From Nehama Abrahami
It seems to me that Myriad Genetics may face some problems with its patent on a test that “singles out Ashkenazi Jewish women” (9 July, p 7). Ashkenazi is not a label that denotes a genetic make-up. It refers to the customs and ritual practices of European Jews; as such it does not refer to anything absolute.
If an Ashkenazi girl marries a Sephardi boy – one who follows the Jewish customs of Spain and the Arab world – she becomes Sephardi and their children are Sephardi. On the other hand, if a Sephardi girl marries an Ashkenazi boy she becomes Ashkenazi even though her genetic make-up doesn’t change. The same goes for converts to Judaism who adopt Ashkenazi customs.
How then can Myriad charge a different rate for this test depending on what religious customs a patient (or, increasingly these days, their grandparents) follows?
Keighley, West Yorkshire, UK
