Cancer-causing gene found in donor sperm across Europe
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You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 16 hours GMT on Wednesday, the 10th of December. Nearly 200 children have been fathered by a sperm donor with a cancer-causing gene mutation. But how could it happen? The Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, calls on democracies to fight for their freedom in a speech delivered by her daughter at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. And... I'm in a village... Ooh, there's another boom of artillery. About three kilometres from the border, standing next to a house that was hit by a rocket yesterday. We hear from the Thai-Cambodia frontier as half a million people flee the fighting.
Also in the podcast... What we're trying to do is develop a form of sound that helps actually quieten the tinnitus persistently and have a lasting effect. The new therapy offering hope to sufferers of tinnitus... Every year, egg and sperm donations help thousands of people with fertility issues start families of their own. But a Europe-wide investigation has found that one sperm donor, who fathered nearly 200 children, unwittingly passed on a genetic mutation that dramatically increased their risk of cancer. Celine, not her real name, is a single mother in France whose child was conceived 14 years ago. She received a call from her fertility clinic in Belgium urging her to get her daughter screened.
She told us of her fears over the possibility her child may develop cancer. We have translated her words.
We don't know when, we don't know which one, and we don't know how many. I understand that there's a high chance it's going to happen, and when it does, we'll fight. And if there are several, we'll fight several times. The most unacceptable thing for me is that I was given sperm that wasn't clean, that wasn't safe, that carried a risk that hadn't been properly tested. That's the most unacceptable thing for me. He was not aware, I believe, that he was a carrier of a mutated gene, so I have absolutely no hard feelings towards him.
Some of the children have already died, and only a minority who inherited the mutation will manage to avoid the disease entirely. I heard more from our health correspondent, James Gallagher. So this sperm donor donated back as a student in 2005, and we think that that sperm was used in around 67 fertility clinics across 14 countries. And the European Sperm Bank said it would have not been possible to detect the mutation this man had by preventatively genetically screening him. And once they did know that he carried this mutation, it was immediately blocked. But so many women and families are affected and the sperm was used by so many people. It's because fertility rules don't work across country borders.
So if you were to go to Belgium or Germany or Greece, each of those countries would have a limit on how often a sperm donor can be used in how many different families in that country.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–8:42
2
What genetic mutation was found in the sperm donor and why is it concerning?
8:42–9:41
3
What is the significance of Maria Corina Machado's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance?
9:41–12:00
4
What are the implications of the National Rally's rise in France?
12:00–12:13
5
How does the new sound therapy aim to help tinnitus sufferers?
12:13–13:12
6
Why is there a debate over the Calibri typeface in US government communications?
13:12–13:52
7
How did the European Sperm Bank respond to the findings of the investigation?
13:52–18:50
8
What impact does the cancer-causing gene have on the children conceived with this sperm?
18:50–33:37
Speakers
10 identifiedMore from Global News Podcast
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