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Allergy-Free Kittens Produced

Posted by Zonk on Fri Jun 09, 2006 11:41 PM
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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  • slashvertizement... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by pboulang (16954) on Friday June 09 2006, @11:44PM (#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@nOSpaM.yahoo.com> on Friday June 09 2006, @11:46PM (#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.

    • Re:yro? (Score:2, Funny)

      by the_other_one (178565)
      The $4000 cat is actually spyware.
      Watch out when it walks on your keyboard.

    • Re:yro? (Score:2)

      by Doytch (950946)
      The company only takes orders from their website, which you'll have to pay an extra $.78 per visit unless you either have the Comcast Super-Happy-Family-Platinum-Edition-Xtreme-Speed plan or are using Googlenet.

      Of course, if you're spending $4000 on a cat

    • Re:yro? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Bob of Dole (453013) <sashdop@3dmm2.com> on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:01AM (#15507685) Journal
      I have a right to not sneeze at your cat!
      Especially while online! I don't want to have to clean my monitor...
      [ Parent ]
    • Actually, with the recent development of cats [youtube.com], scientists have started to use the felines as an energy source, powering a lot of servers. This new breed of cats helps a lot of the allergic sysadmins who can utilize the animals not only for power, but for

    • Re:yro? (Score:2)

      by Firehed (942385)
      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.
      Zonk missed the Science section due to some YRO-related problem.

  • I don't know... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 09 2006, @11:46PM (#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} {at} {gmail.com}> on Friday June 09 2006, @11:47PM (#15507644)
    OMG Kittens!
  • ...financing?

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

    by Frosty Piss (770223) on Friday June 09 2006, @11:53PM (#15507665) Homepage
    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, @04:56AM (#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.
      [ Parent ]

          • Re:amazingly rude (Score:3, Informative)

            by value_added (719364)
            Why put "Not Show Quality" on the papers?

            The hard truth of the matter is dogs, like cats, cows, horses and just about any other animal you're familiar with is the result of selective breeding. There was no such thing as a German Shepherd or an English She
        • Some farmers sell their stuff for a premium because they are using "natural" methods for farming (don't recall the English term). They have certificates for that. If cross pollination caused your fields to be "infested" with GMO plants you lose that certif

  • Bonsai Kitten (Score:5, Funny)

    by shird (566377) on Friday June 09 2006, @11:58PM (#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.

  • I'm Allergic to Cats (Score:2, Insightful)

    by ClamIAm (926466)
    It would be nice to play with a cat without being miserable. However, I think we should be trying to breed healthy and smart pets instead of designer stuff like this. I'd rather have a smart mutt than one that is stupid and gets sick all the time. Yeah,

  • Patented Cats? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by dduardo (592868) on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:03AM (#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, @12:06AM (#15507700)
    They aren't always going to cost $4000. Just at first.

  • Keeping me warm (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Skywings (943119) <skywings_w.yahoo@com> on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:08AM (#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.

    • Re:Keeping me warm (Score:2, Funny)

      by kfg (145172)
      . . .how proud they are that their cat has caught a few mice.

      Ahhhh yes, now you too will be able to experience the joy and wonder of stumbling barefooted toward the bathroom in the middle of night and stepping on three quarters of a mouse.

      KFG
  • ...until they learn to use your digital camera and you wake up to find them walking along the ceiling.

    Triksies, these ones are!

  • Unmentioned problem (Score:4, Funny)

    by iamdrscience (541136) <michaelmtripp.gmail@com> on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:21AM (#15507742) Homepage Journal
    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.
  • Homer dumps his cat and dog in a burlap sack to breed "a miracle hybrid, with the loyalty of a cat and the cleanliness of a dog."
  • I, for one, welcome our allergy-friendly, super cat overlords. ah-choo!!

  • Allergy free? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by shodai (970706)
    Wouldn't allergy-free people be much more efficient?
  • now if they can just engineer cats to 1) not pee on your bed, 2) have better smelling dumps 3) not be totally offthewall insane about 90% of the time and 4) take orders from their owners...

    they just might make good pets.

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

      by Reality Master 101 (179095) <{moc.liamg} {ta} {101retsaMytilaeR}> on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:02AM (#15507691) Homepage Journal

      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).

      [ Parent ]

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

      by RyoShin (610051) <tukaro@NoSpam.gmail.com> on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:10AM (#15507709) Homepage Journal
      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.
      [ Parent ]
      • I'm allergic to cats. However, I find that I don't have allergic reactions to Ragdoll Cats. So I'm able to tolerate my wife's cat. I've heard people call ragdolls "hypoallergenic" in the past. Maybe they are just less so. BTW, I paid $200 for the cat, not

        • 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, @12:15AM (#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.

      [ Parent ]

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

        by frickendevil (977786) on Saturday June 10 2006, @06:22AM (#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.
        [ Parent ]

    • Re:stop playing God. (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Skywings (943119)

      This is sickly scary. It's a shame people have allergies and can't have pets, but they make medicine for that. It's just not right to be making genetically altered animals. They are the way they were made.

      I've tried this in the past and this method serio

    • Re:stop playing God. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Somnus (46089)
      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.

      Fur
      • Until then all who wish to accept the power and glory of the savior must accept that i am both the christ and the antichrist, and those followers shall be granted power to protect me while i rest, and plot my next move.
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