Some of the most famous studies about Jews and genetic diseases looked at the occurrence of mutations of breast cancer genes among Ashkenazi women and found higher rates among Jewish women. There are many articles on the Internet about these findings aimed at lay audiences. Among them are the Jewish Communication Network at www.jcn18.com/newstand/wahrman/cancer.htm and the USA Today site at www.usatoday.com/life/ health/cancer/breast/lhcbr006.htm.
Scientists are constantly refining their research and the National Cancer Institute released a report that said that although the breast cancer risk is higher among Ashkenazi women, it is lower than in previous studies. Check it out at http://rex.nci.nih.gov/massmedia/ pressreleases/jewishgene.html.
If you suspect that you may be a carrier of a genetic disorder, would you get screened? In U.S. News and World Report, Rita Rubin writes that even though two family members were both treated for breast cancer, she has decided not to be tested. In her article, at www.usnews.com/ usnews/issue/geneb2.htm, she says that even if she tested positive, she wouldn’t change her basic health strategy of regular self-examinations and mammograms.
For a look at the decisions other women have made, check “To Know or Not to Know” from Ohio State University’s cancer programs. The Web site is www.osu.edu/units/cancer/ wn99frnt/know.htm.
Dr. Mary-Claire King is the researcher who first discovered the existence of the BRCA-1 gene. In a feature article in Newsday on genetics and the breast cancer gene, King emphasizes that there are no easy answers to the medical, ethical and legal issues posed by her findings. “We’re in a purgatorial period now,” she writes. “It’s better than hell, but we’re not in heaven.” Her article is at www.newsday.com/features/health/ breast/bresmain.htm.
The controversy over genetic screening and its ethical and halachic implications is addressed at length in several areas on the Internet. In his essay on genetic screening, North Dakota State University student Mike Wetzstein gives an overview of this issue and explains some of Judaism’s concerns. “The obligation with regard to procreation is not suspended simply because of the statistical probability that some children of the union may be deformed or abnormal,” he writes in the article, at www.cc.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/mcclean/plsc431/students/mike.htm.
Dr. Fred Rosner is a professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. In “Judaism, Genetic Screening and Genetic Therapy,” he concludes genetic screening and therapy “are permissible in Judaism when used for the treatment, cure or prevention of disease.” The article is at www.ijme.org/Content/ Transcripts/Rosner/genetics.htm.
Among the greatest fears about genetic testing is that a person known to be a carrier of a disease could become stigmatized and viewed as an undesirable marriage partner. I recommend a fascinating article in the Jewish Homemaker magazine that looks at a Brooklyn-based organization called Dor Yeshorim. The article is at http://ok.org/homemaker/chanukah99/health.html.
Dor Yeshorim tests young men and women before they begin to date. Their results are kept anonymously and are only available to rabbis who compare the charts when couples seriously contemplate marriage. If both are carriers for a certain disorder, they are told their prospective union is “not advisable.” No one is told if he or she is a carrier — only that both must look for another match. The Dor Yeshorim method has apparently gained wide acceptance through Brooklyn’s Orthodox community.
Mark Mietkiewicz is a Toronto-based television producer who writes, lectures and teaches about the Jewish Internet. His columns alternate with those of James D. Besser. Mietkiewicz can be reached at [email protected].