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Quoting from their website:
The ALLERCA research and development team placed the company in a unique position to produce the world's first scientifically-proven hypoallergenic cat.
A glycoprotein, Fel d 1, secreted by the sebaceous glands, is the major cat allergen. This allergen is found in the fur, saliva, urine, mucous, salivary glands, and hair roots of the cat. The Fel d 1 gene present in normal cats is responsible for the production of this protein.
Starting with proprietary genetic testing technologies, the ALLERCA team began by focusing on the particular gene that produces the Fel d 1 glycoprotein. The process uses gene sequencing to detect naturally occurring genetic divergences in cats. ALLERCA then targeted those divergences that could potentially produce kittens with a change in the structure of the Fel d 1 allergen produced by the gene. Using sophisticated bioinformatics to manage feline breeding programs, the final stage resulted in cats with a divergent gene that produces a different version of the Fel D 1 protein - and a GD cat that no longer triggers the autoimmune system of people allergic to cats.
The next stage was to conduct controlled experiments exposing volunteers with known feline allergies to both ALLERCA GD cats and non-GD cats. The results? None of the human subjects exposed to the ALLERCA GD cats reacted in any way. When these same volunteers were exposed to non-GD cats, the subjects demonstrated classic symptoms of a feline allergic reaction, including watery eyes, runny noses, hives and itchy skin.
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So these cats were produced, it seems to me, by selective breeding, and not by introducing genetic material altered or produced outside of the normal reproductive processes of felines - in short, GM it isn't. Here's hoping the breeding did the cats some good as well as their owners. |
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