Embryos could be screened for cancer
Britain’s fertility watchdog has suggested embryos could be screened for genes that may lead to cancer.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has launched a public consultation on whether the existing screening process could be extended to more of the population.
Screening of embryos already takes place for those with a family history of serious genetic conditions, like Huntington’s disease and cystic fibrosis.
HFEA chief executive Angela McNab said it was important to be “open about the issues that we may face” in relation to screening in the future and “give people the chance to think about” those issues.
But the idea is controversial, as people carrying genes that make them susceptible to cancers are not guaranteed to develop the disease later in life.
Some ethics campaigners are also against the move, fearing it could be the start of screening for minor faults in embryos or even the creation of ‘designer babies’.
Currently the screening process, known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), is available at ten fertility clinics in the UK. It is used to test for genes that will definitely lead to diseases in the future.
But the HFEA is now asking if this process should be extended to disorders where the condition may not lead to disease in the future – including breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
“What we are asking people is whether it is appropriate to use embryo screening technology to stop children being born with faulty genes when there is a chance they may never go on to suffer the cancer,” Ms McNab said.
“Our policy team have identified that we are likely to have to consider applications for using treatment in this way for inherited breast cancer and other conditions in the near future.”
But pressure group Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE) has said destroying embryos that may carry genetic disorders was “eugenic in nature”.
CORE director Josephine Quintavalle said the only “acceptable solution” was to find cures for diseases such as breast cancer “not to kill the patients carrying them at the embryo or foetal stage”.
However, campaign group Genewatch UK welcomed the consultation as long as there were safeguards to accompany any extension of genetic scanning.
Director Dr Sue Mayer told politics.co.uk her organisation was pleased that the UK fertility watchdog was consulting as decisions had previously been “taken behind closed doors”.
The HFEA’s policy team has been carrying out a scientific review on these issues since the start of the year. The public discussion on these issues will be held in the late autumn.
