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Allergy-Free Kittens Produced

Posted by Zonk on Sat Jun 10, 2006 12:41 AM
from the nothing-about-these-cats-is-free dept.
Patents Science
An anonymous reader writes "San Diego-based company, Allerca, said that using a technique known as genetic divergence, it has 'bred the world's first hypoallergenic kitten, opening the doors and arms of millions of pet lovers for whom cuddling a cat has, until now, been a curse ... After identifying the genes of kittens with proteins that provide less of a reaction in humans, they selectively bred litters over several generations to end up with an allergy-friendly super cat.' The company says its customers are expected to take delivery of their $4,000 hypoallergenic kittens in early 2007."
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Allergy-Free Kittens Produced 25 Comments More /

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  • slashvertizement... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by pboulang (16954) on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:44AM (#15507633)
    oops, they forget to mention the lawsuits against the owner, no actual product scientifically tested, and the expose done by local San Diego TV.. I'll take two..

  • yro? (Score:5, Funny)

    by novastar123 (540269) <<cc_viper2000> <at> <yahoo.com>> on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:46AM (#15507639) Homepage
    How exactly is this Your Rights Online? unless said $4000 cat is a blogger, it has nothing to do with online as i see it.

  • I don't know... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:46AM (#15507641)
    Why would you pay $4000 for a kitten that could be dead if only one person masturbates?

  • Allow me to be the first to say (Score:4, Funny)

    by zanglang (917799) <zanglang@gmail . c om> on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:47AM (#15507644)
    OMG Kittens!

  • For my $4000.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Frosty Piss (770223) on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:53AM (#15507665)
    I'm sure they will be delivering them spayed and neutered. But for my $4000, I'd want one that had all its parts... And if one got out into the wild, would they pull a "Monsanto" (Monsanto demanded and got fees from farmers who ended up with genetically altered crops from cross polarization, not because they planted them)

    • Re:For my $4000.... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by value_added (719364) on Saturday June 10 2006, @05:56AM (#15508255)
      I'm sure they will be delivering them spayed and neutered. But for my $4000, I'd want one that had all its parts... And if one got out into the wild, would they pull a "Monsanto" (Monsanto demanded and got fees from farmers who ended up with genetically altered crops from cross polarization, not because they planted them)

      My guess is that the same rules that apply to normal breeding would apply in this case. I'll speak from the point of view of dogs because that's what I'm familiar with, but I'm sure the same applies to cats as well.

      Typically, when you buy from a breeder, the sale is made at the discretion of the breeder. Put another way, you get the animal (with all the parts) and the papers only if the breeder considers you responsible enough to continue the line and/or are interested and capable of showing the animal. Most breeders won't have anything to do with the general public, so the idea of getting a "pet" (either with or without all the parts) is out of the question.

      The exception, of course, is in the case of where part of the litter is, for lack of a more polite term, substandard. Those animals won't get bred. If the breeder decides not to keep them around as a pet, they will be given to or sold to an interested buyer who is already known to the breeder (most breeders will maintain waiting lists that span years). The animal will be spayed or neutered beforehand, and the papers will be provided. In certain circumstances, an exception is made and the animal is let go without being spayed or neutered under an agreement that the animal will not be bred, and the papers are withheld indefinitely, or until such time that the new owner provides evidence that the animal was spayed or neutered after the fact.

      The above doesn't apply to backyard breeders, puppy mills, pet stores, etc. so all bets are off as to what you get, or what the rules are. With respect to the article, my guess is that anyone breeding cats specifically for hypoallergenic qualities is looking to sell them as pets only and definitely wouldn't want them going out the door with all their parts.

  • Bonsai Kitten (Score:5, Funny)

    by shird (566377) on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:58AM (#15507677) Homepage Journal
    Wouldn't it be much easier to just have a Bonsai Kitten [bonsaikitten.com]? No mess, no fuss, no allergies. And you can store it neatly on the shelf.

  • Patented Cats? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by dduardo (592868) on Saturday June 10 2006, @01:03AM (#15507695)
    I know the producers the genetically modified plants don't like people planting their proprietary seeds. Are people allowed to breed these genetically modified cats?

  • People.... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by demogorgonx (785903) on Saturday June 10 2006, @01:06AM (#15507700)
    They aren't always going to cost $4000. Just at first.

  • Keeping me warm (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Skywings (943119) <skywings_w@ya[ ].com ['hoo' in gap]> on Saturday June 10 2006, @01:08AM (#15507706)

    For someone who has grown up never having a cute,furry pet, this is something I strongly welcome. I have allergies to most things and cats are certainly one of them. There is the constant sense of envy as friends talk about what cute things their kittens have done or how proud they are that their cat has caught a few mice. You can't really say the same sort of thing about fish. Now don't get me wrong, I still care for my fishes very much but I guess that there isn't really the same sort of attachment you would get with a warm blooded mammal.

    I would be willing to pay up to $4000 to buy such a kitten, for if I was to get a regular cat, I'd probably be spending as much in medication.

  • Unmentioned problem (Score:4, Funny)

    by iamdrscience (541136) <michaelmtripp.gmail@com> on Saturday June 10 2006, @01:21AM (#15507742) Homepage
    There are some side-effects to the genetic engineering process though, while the cats are both hypoallergenic and cute beyond belief, you must keep them out of daylight, you can never get them wet and you can never ever feed them after midnight.

    • This smells like a troll, but what do you think different breeds of dogs and cats are? That's basically human genetic engineering.

      Not to mention that dogs and cats are artificially created animals anyway. Dogs were 'manufactured' from wolves, and cats from (whatever that proto-cat was called that I'm too lazy to look up).

    • From reading the article, it looks like they didn't do any genetic modification. Instead, they used genetic testing, and did selective breeding based on that testing to get a cat without the protein.
      Allerca announced their plans three years ago, and started collecting deposits from allergic cat fans, but have now decided that their plans to use RNA interference were taking a back seat to a more traditional breeding approach, albeit one that uses genetic testing to select individuals that express low levels of FEL D1.
      A link in that quote goes to a NewScientist.com article [newscientist.com], which appears to have more details:
      A California company has turned to conventional breeding to deliver the non-allergenic kittens it promised two years ago.
        • I'm able to tolerate my wife's cat. ... BTW, I paid $200 for the cat


          You paid $200 for a cat to which you are allergic? You, sir, are pussy-whipped.

          (all in humor, it was just too good to pass up)

    • Re:stop playing God. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Sloppy (14984) on Saturday June 10 2006, @01:15AM (#15507724) Homepage Journal

      It's not right to use anti-allegery medicine. If being allergic is how you were made, then you shouldn't play God by taking it.

      And while we're on the topic, something needs to be done about those people who use machines to add up thousands of numbers per second. Doing arithmetic on such a Godly scale, is just plain blasphemous and arrogant.

      Then there's the people who think they can fly like gods, or move across an unnaturally-hard straight piece of ground faster than a cheetah, or breath while under water. Or kill other people at a distance far greater then the length of even a really long club. Or make music without any musicians appearing to be nearby. Or live in a cave-like habitat when there aren't any actual natural caves around. Some of the really arrogant ones, play God by drinking cold beer in spite of the fact that winter ended several months ago.

      • Re:stop playing God. (Score:4, Funny)

        by frickendevil (977786) on Saturday June 10 2006, @07:22AM (#15508399)
        I don't know about you, but i make the arduous trip to the other hemisphere, by foot, just to get my cold beer and not be sacrilegious. I am also a firm believer that these kittens were not genetically modified from any other kitten, but rather an individual creation by the oh so marvelous spaghetti monster. Ramen.
    • They use traditional breeding, a technique that humans have been using for millennia to produce domesticated animals with desirable attributes. If anything, breeding cats to be hypoallergenic is more noble than usual reasons for selective cat breeding.

      Furthermore, humans play God all the time. We have treatments for diseases (genetic ones even), shape the land, and create synthetic substitutes for fabrics, transportation, etc. etc. for stuff that isn't optimal. Even if they were to directly engineer the

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