BBC NEWS
US hypoallergenic cats go on sale
The world's first specially-bred hypoallergenic cats have gone on sale in the United States.

US biotech firm Allerca says it has managed to selectively breed them by reducing a certain type of protein that triggers allergic reactions.

The cats will not cause the red eyes, sneezing and even asthma that some cat allergy sufferers experience, except in the most acute cases.

Despite costing $3,950, there is already a waiting list to get one.

Allerca first started taking orders for genetically engineered hypoallergenic cats back in 2004.

No genetic modification

It tested huge numbers of cats trying to find the tiny fraction which do not carry the glycoprotein Fel d1 - contained in its saliva, fur and skin - which produces allergies.

Those cats were then used to breed the hypoallergenic cats.

The company's Steve May told the BBC that it is a natural, if time consuming method.

"This is a natural gene divergence within the cat DNA - one out of 50,000 cats will have this natural divergence," he said.

"So candidates, natural divergent cats were found and then bred so there is really no modification of the gene."

The BBC's Pascale Harter says there could soon be a global market for the kittens - in the US alone 38 million households own a cat, and around the world an estimated 35% of humans suffer from allergies.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/5375900.stm

Published: 2006/09/24 14:31:10 GMT

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