Hypoallergenic cats to order
A company called Allerca (based in California) claims to have successfully developed a hypoallergenic cat. The first few kittens will be available next year. The first buyers have been on a waiting list for more than two years.
The cats are bred so that their glands do not produce the protein responsible for most human cat allergies. At first, the Allerca scientists tried to find a method to delete or disable the relevant gene. But during testing they discovered that it was not necessary to do this because some cats already carried a mutant gene that produces a modified protein, one far less likely to induce allergies. So all they had to do was to find cats that carried the mutant gene and breed them.
Since the mutant gene is dominant, these breeding cats could even be mated with normal cats to produce hypoallergenic kittens. And no special licensing or government approvals were needed.
For cats ordered now, delivery will take 12 to 15 months in the United States, and 15 to 18 months in Europe. The non-allergic cats will cost US$ 6,950 (US) for delivery to Australia!
At 10 to 12 weeks, every Allerca kitten is neutered before it is delivered. This will stop people breeding their own hypoallergenic cats and so they should be in business for a long time.
If you would like to read more about the sneeze-free cats then you can visit the website: [url="http://www.allerca.com/"]http://www.allerca.com/[/url]
A company called Allerca (based in California) claims to have successfully developed a hypoallergenic cat. The first few kittens will be available next year. The first buyers have been on a waiting list for more than two years.
The cats are bred so that their glands do not produce the protein responsible for most human cat allergies. At first, the Allerca scientists tried to find a method to delete or disable the relevant gene. But during testing they discovered that it was not necessary to do this because some cats already carried a mutant gene that produces a modified protein, one far less likely to induce allergies. So all they had to do was to find cats that carried the mutant gene and breed them.
Since the mutant gene is dominant, these breeding cats could even be mated with normal cats to produce hypoallergenic kittens. And no special licensing or government approvals were needed.
For cats ordered now, delivery will take 12 to 15 months in the United States, and 15 to 18 months in Europe. The non-allergic cats will cost US$ 6,950 (US) for delivery to Australia!
At 10 to 12 weeks, every Allerca kitten is neutered before it is delivered. This will stop people breeding their own hypoallergenic cats and so they should be in business for a long time.
If you would like to read more about the sneeze-free cats then you can visit the website: [url="http://www.allerca.com/"]http://www.allerca.com/[/url]
