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Sperm donor with cancer-causing gene fathers nearly 200 children

21 points

by ashishgupta2209

2 months ago

| past

| 5 comments

| scienceclock.com

| HN

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nanfinitum

2 months ago

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Given how high risk this whole donor thing is, I’m surprised there is very little regulation around this process.

For one, It’s truly bizzare that they don’t regulate the number of kids from a single donor. I also assumed they would have some rigorous screening of genetic disorders such as this one before freely distributing sperm for insemination.

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mikestew

2 months ago

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For one, It’s truly bizzare that they don’t regulate the number of kids from a single donor.

The donor in TFA is Danish, and Denmark has a 12 child limit on donations, but apparently exports don’t count.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_donation_laws_by_country...

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extraduder_ire

2 months ago

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It was not detected in the genetic screening they did.

It was also 2005.

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jfil

2 months ago

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This reminds me of the single conquistador with a cancer-prone gene, who's responsible for 1 in 300 Brazilians carrying that gene (https://aacrjournals.org/cebp/article-abstract/doi/10.1158/1...)

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ashishgupta2209

2 months ago

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It should be regulated how many children can be born by a single donor.

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nozzlegear

2 months ago

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Why?

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ls612

2 months ago

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Because it can lead to accidental incest between biological half-siblings.

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nozzlegear

2 months ago

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That would only be an issue if they're all geographically concentrated in a small area where the children have a higher likelihood to meet. If the donor were to donate 200 samples to 200 clinics spread across a region, it shouldn't be a problem, no?

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hulitu

2 months ago

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>That would only be an issue if they're all geographically concentrated in a small area where the children have a higher likelihood to meet.

like monarchs of Europe

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ChrisArchitect

2 months ago

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Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgmy90z991o (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46215637)

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burnt-resistor

2 months ago

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Some people are selfish and vain, not just billionaires. What else is new?

One can only hope some CRISP gene therapy would be developed to possibly help them.