The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will permit doctors to select embyros free from three genes that can cause tumours, even though they confer only an 80 per cent risk of diseases that will not develop until adulthood. The decision to approve the procedure, known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), expands the range of disorders for which it is available. The diagnosis was originally licensed only for genes invariably causing disease, such as cystic fibrosis, although in 2004 the HFEA also agreed to permit screening for a gene carrying a 90 per cent risk of bowel cancer.

At least one clinic already has patients seeking PGD for breast cancer, and the first formal licence applications under the new regulations are expected within weeks. Doctors wishing to screen for any of the three genes will require a separate licence for every patient.

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