The 'designer baby' debate has been further fuelled with the news that the UK's fertility watchdog, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), has granted University College Hospital (UCH), London, a license to screen embryos for the gene that causes familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). FAP is an autosomal dominant condition that predisposes to colorectal cancer.

This is not the first pre-implantation genetic diagnosis license issued in the UK, but marks a move away from screening only for childhood or untreatable disorders. Furthermore, as Paul Serhal, of UCH, remarked, “It's a shift in thinking, from trying to treat cancer to preventing cancer” (NewScientist.com, 05 November 2004).

Serhal also challenges criticisms of the license. He emphasizes that it is not a matter of 'design', but of giving nature a helping hand: “Selection does happen in nature, there's lots of embryo wastage normally”. He adds, “We are not screening for physical characteristics. This is a sensible approach to preventing cancer” (NewScientist.com, 05 November 2004).

Others, such as Mohammed Tarannisi, Director of the Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre, London, have used the ruling as an opportunity to encourage public debate. He comments, “These are conditions that may or may not develop 20, 30, 40 years down the line. Is this the right thing to do?” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/, 08 November 2004).

Licenses to screen for other cancer-predisposition genes could follow. For example, the HFEA are considering an application from Tarannisi to test for BRCA1 and BRCA2, genes that increase the risk of breast cancer by up to 80%.