A shocking investigation has revealed that sperm from a donor resulting in the birth of over 200 children has unknowingly spread a cancer-causing gene, leaving their lives at risk.
While there have been some potential breakthroughs in recent years when it comes to a 'cure' for certain forms of cancer, the large group of deadly diseases continue to be a serious problem for medical experts as they search for a way to combat the often deadly consequences.
While some forms of cancer are caused by environmental actions such as smoking cigarettes or excessive UV exposure, many are entirely natural and some are even activated from birth.
This is particularly relevant when it comes to a recent investigation, which uncovered that one sperm donor in Europe unknowingly harbored a genetic mutation that, when used for conception, spread to over 200 children across the continent.
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As reported by the BBC, the donated sperm has resulted in at least 197 births across Europe with more likely still to come from data that is yet to be obtained, sourcing from Denmark's European Sperm Bank which then sold the reproductive cells.
The investigation has revealed that several children have already died as a result of the cancer-causing genes that they inherited from the donated sperm, and only a minority of the several hundred children born from it will escape the inevitability of cancer in their lifetimes.
It was initially donated in 2005 by an anonymous student paid to undergo the process, and was used by women for around 17 years after that. The European Sperm Bank has admitted that the sperm in question was used too many times, and has offered its "deepest sympathy" to the families affected by the investigation.
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In terms of the danger and risk, it all stems from damages to the TP53 gene found inside the donor's cells, which play a key role in preventing cancer from developing under normal functions.
For the donor himself it has been revealed that most of his body does not contain the 'damaged' TP53 gene, but around 20% of his sperm does, and any child born from that section will possess the mutation in every cell of their body.
Professor Clare Turnbull, a cancer geneticist at London's Institute of Cancer Research, has illustrated that "it is a dreadful diagnosis," adding that "it's a very challenging diagnosis to land on a family, there is a lifelong burden of living with that risk, it's clearly devastating."
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Children that have been identified as being born from the donated sperm will have to undergo MRI scans on their body and brain every year for the rest of their life, alongside abdominal ultrasound scans.
Some will even elect to have their breasts removed to lower the risk of cancer there, but their lives have ultimately been drastically changed in a horrifying way.