A bundle of scientific reports indicate more than 200 chemicals, found in the air and in consumer products, cause breast cancer in animal tests.

Researchers report in an American Cancer Society publication that reducing exposure to such compounds could prevent many women from developing the disease.

Family history and genetic make-up are responsible for only a small percentage of breast cancer cases. Environmental and lifestyle factors, such as diet, are most likely involved in the majority of cases, say experts.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of thirty one. I had been taking oral contraceptives for over thirteen years. I was not the type of person that constantly questioned how I got breast cancer or tried to figure out 'why me?' I knew that there were so many factors that could have contributed to me getting breast cancer. Why try and figure it out anyway?, I'm never going to really know the real reason for certain. I wasn't focused on why I got breast cancer at a young age but wanted to focus on surviving the disease. I guess I'm more of the kind of individual who thinks 'why not me'? I know that cancer can happen to anyone, at any age.

Over the years since I have been diagnosed I have read that oral contraceptives do not cause an increased risk of breast cancer, and I have read other articles that suggest they do increase the risk.

This week I read an article that stated oral contraceptive use is a risk factor for premenopausal breast cancer, especially in women who use them prior to having a child. The analysis builds on many studies with similar findings, but even as the findings stack up many women are unaware of the risks.

The study noted that 21 out of 23 retrospective studies have shown an increased risk of breast cancer in women who took oral contraceptives prior to pregnancy. It also showed that those women experienced an increased risk of developing breast cancer by 44 percent. The World Health Organization classified oral contraceptives as a class one carcinogen, which means there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans.

Physicians need to talk to their patients about the risks of oral contraceptives. I do not remember ever having any conversations about increased risk of breast cancer when given the pill. I might have still decided to take the pill, but at least I would have been aware of the risk. It might also be beneficially for young women taking oral contraceptives to have earlier screening for breast cancer.

Remember Dolly the first successfully cloned sheep? In 1997, a scientist named Ian Wilmut stunned the world when he announced he had successfully cloned a sheep from an adult cell. With a new book, After Dolly, set for release on June 12, Wilmut is suggesting that we should seriously consider cloning babies to put an end to genetic disease. But Wilmut says he is not suggesting the practice of genetic enhancement to create designer babies. It certainly sounds like that is what he is saying when he suggests that parents, with the assistance of scientists, be allowed to combine the cloning of human embryos with genetic modification to eliminate hereditary disease. The process of creating designer babies is the same, the intent of purpose separated by a thin veil. Regardless of what he says he is or is not saying -- what he is describing is the eventuality of designer humans.

Wilmut states, "The use of genetic and reproductive technologies is not a step backward into darkness, but a step forward into the light." But in following Wilmut into his light, will our eventual fate be that of Icarus, who soared toward the sun on wax wings? I don't want to go all Luddite, but I am very uneasy about the ethics and where this all leads. And to take it to the next level, will there one day in the future be two races of humans? The genetically perfect designer human, and the genetically-imperfect unmodified human. How will it work? Who will decide? What do you think?