The child's parents opted for genetic screening tests in the hope of freeing their children from the disease which has blighted the lives of their relatives for generations.
Without screening, any girl they had would have been likely to develop a fast spreading, hard-to-treat form of breast cancer.
Doctors at University College Hospital, London, created embryos through IVF then screened them for the deadly gene before transferring only healthy ones into the womb. The sex of the baby is not known.
Paul Serhal, medical director of the hospital's assisted conception unit, said the pioneering treatment, which was carried out on the NHS, allowed the parents the chance of a healthy family. Many more couples could benefit from pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD.
But pro-life campaigners claim it is morally wrong to weed out imperfect babies and describe the technique, in which unhealthy embryos are left to perish, as a 'tool for search and kill'. (Source: Daily Mail)