Genetic tests for all – the new approach to preventive medicine

Mark Henderson and Sam Lister

Embryo screening, which is licensed for certain serious conditions, such as Huntington’s disease and cystic fibrosis, continues to attract controversy, with claims that it is paving the way for the creation of “designer babies”. However, doctors’ leaders argue that a technique that can prevent a child from developing a life-threatening illness should not be restricted.

The UCL screening programme is focusing on the London community of Ashkenazi Jews, who have a high risk of inheriting BRCA1 and BRCA2. The NHS offers BRCA testing, but only for women whose relatives have had cancer because of the mutations. Up to 50 per cent of people with the faulty genes do not have a family history of the diseases, largely because the gene can be carried by men.