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             complications that result from this cancer and others are the clogging and
             cramming of the system (American Cancer Society, 1999: 10)
             have been named as a great cause of cancer. It now is thought in the medical
             community that while there are definite environmental contributors to cancer,
             even those people who are exposed to few carcinogens may suffer from disease
             that runs in their families. Among the genes that are being heavily researched
             is the gene BRCA1 (Case Studies). In one of the preliminary studies of this
             particular gene, over 250 Jewish women were discovered to have mutations in
             this germ-line allele, which is a version of the trait that is passed to the
             offspring through the germ line cell (or gamete). This accounts for
             approximately 13% of all breast cancer patients observed. Jewish women in
             specific were used, as early on there was a definite pattern of breast cancer
             through the Jewish community especially that which lived in the United States.
             The specific mutation, 185delAG, was, "strongly associated with the onset of
             breast cancer in Jewish women before the age of 30." Scientists advanced upon
             this new information of genealogical interplay, so the "New England Journal of
             Medicine" (NEJM) set out determined to study the overall effects of these
             genes. In an article printed on January 18, 1996, germ-line alterations in
             BRCA1 were discovered in six of the 80 women surveyed who had breast cancer
             but had no apparent familial history of it. Thus the scientists concluded that
             mutation was not limited to women with a history of cancer. Genes are thought
             to cause five to twenty percent of all breast cancers. A gene known as p53
             supposedly stalls reproduction of cells, and can even cause a cell to "commit
             suicide". Other genes that seem to accelerate growth to overtake and stick to
             proteins include HER2, neu, and erB2 (Fitzgerald et al, 1996). The relation
             between serum estro...