BRCA1 and cancer: The new ‘molecular biopolitics' (Rose, 2007) engendered by the molecularisation of cancer screening technologies has been the focus of some interest among social scientists, although the majority of research to date has focused on genetic testing, especially in relation to the BRCA1/2 genes (for example, Polzer, 2000; Press et al, 2000; Gibbon, 2007; Gibbon et al, 2010).