Ever since the ‘breast cancer’ gene BRCA was identified, women who have the gene have struggled with decisions of how that affects their bodies and futures. The two profiled below struggled with the same decision:

Tavis Smiley this past week interviewed TV writer Jessica Queller, who underwent a double mastectomy at age 35 and wrote a book about her struggles with living with the breast cancer gene. See interview.

P.O.V. will be airing a documentary by Chicago filmmaker Joanna Rudnick, who tested positive for the gene at age 27. Here is a segment from her film, “In The Family”, which will air in the fall of 2008. While the film is about women making decisions about their potential breast cancer, this video below is Joanna’s own story:

Rudnick’s web site for the movie includes links to news stories related to the film and genetic health issues, politics, and more.

If you want to know more about the Breast Cancer gene BRCA1 and how it was identified in the last decade or so of genetic research, the following info is available online:

The PBS series DNA from 2003 has online video about the discovery of the gene. See video.

NewsHour back in 1995 interviewed Dr. Francis Collins of the Human Genome Project, who was in the process of identifying the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and 2 at the time. Read interview.