Cancer-causing gene found in donor sperm across Europe
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.2 • 7.8K Ratings
🗓️ 10 December 2025
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A sperm donor who unknowingly harboured a genetic mutation that dramatically raises the risk of cancer has fathered at least 197 children across Europe, a major investigation has revealed. Some children have already died and only a minority who inherit the mutation will escape cancer in their lifetimes. Denmark's European Sperm Bank, which sold the sperm, said families affected had their "deepest sympathy" and admitted the sperm was used to make too many babies in some countries.The sperm came from an anonymous man who was paid to donate as a student, starting in 2005.
Also: the daughter of the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Coria Machado has collected her mother's Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf. The new sound therapy offering hope to sufferers of tinnitus. We hear from the border between Thailand and Cambodia as half a million people flee the fighting. The leader of the National Rally in France, Jordan Bardella, who is favourite to win the French presidential election in 2027, speaks to the BBC. We hear from the creator of the typeface Calibri after the US State Department bans it. And why humans are apparently 66% monogamous - far above chimpanzees and gorillas – and more similar to meerkats and beavers.
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.
Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.
Get in touch: [email protected]
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | You're listening to the Global News Podcasts from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:10.0 | Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 16 hours GMT on Wednesday the 10th of December. |
| 0:17.0 | Nearly 200 children have been fathered by a sperm donor with a cancer-causing gene |
| 0:22.1 | mutation. But how could it happen? The Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado |
| 0:27.3 | calls on democracies to fight for their freedom in a speech delivered by her daughter at the |
| 0:32.4 | Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. And in a village, oh, it's another boom of artillery, about three |
| 0:39.4 | kilometres from the border standing next to a house that was hit by a rocket yesterday. |
| 0:44.1 | We hear from the Thai-Cambodia frontier as half a million people flee the fighting. |
| 0:51.6 | Also in the podcast, what we're trying to do is develop a form of sounds that helps actually quiet in the tinnitus persistently and everlasting effect. |
| 0:59.7 | The new therapy offering hope to sufferers of tinnitus. |
| 1:08.2 | Every year, egg and sperm donations help thousands of people with fertility issues start families of their own. |
| 1:15.1 | But a Europe-wide investigation has found that one sperm donor, who fathered nearly 200 children, |
| 1:21.2 | unwittingly passed on a genetic mutation that dramatically increased their risk of cancer. |
| 1:26.8 | Celine, not her real name, is a single mother in France whose child was conceived 14 years ago. |
| 1:32.8 | She received a call from her fertility clinic in Belgium, urging her to get her daughter screened. |
| 1:38.6 | She told us of her fears over the possibility her child may develop cancer. |
| 1:42.8 | We have translated her words. |
| 1:44.7 | We don't know when. We don't know which one. And we don't know how many. I understand that |
| 1:50.0 | there's a high chance it's going to happen. And when it does, we'll fight. And if there are several, |
| 1:55.8 | we'll fight several times. The most unacceptable thing for me is that I was given sperm that wasn't clean, |
| 2:02.4 | that wasn't safe, that carried a risk that hadn't been properly tested. That's the most |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 6 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.