At this site, it appears that a scientist who was responsible for cloning a calf is working on creating genetically-modified cats that are not allergenic to humans. I think this is a great idea. I also think that genetically-modifying animals (including humans) has huge potential for misuse and disaster. Anyone want to have their say on this topic (allergen-free cats specifically, or genetically-modified animals in general)?
It’s a slippery slope… everybody wants the benefits of genetic tinkering but nobody wants the liabilities. Would cats that don’t cause allergies be a good idea? Sure, why not. Is it a step towards cloning people? Probably… the genie is out of the bottle folks and there’s now way to stuff it back in…
Project director Dr. Vitas Verdegast was heard to say, “Mad? Zey call me MAD? I’ll show zem! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!”
[shaking head sadly] “. . . They peppered in God’s lo mein . . .”
This would be great. I wuv widdle kitties but can’t have any because they make my eyes water and tear up and have flu like symptons. This would be so cool.
I wonder how much they are going to charge for one of these allergen-free cats?
Well, Amp, according to featherlou’s link, they estimate between $750-1,000. That’s a little steep in my opinion for a cat, but the idea’s intriguing.
I am totally a cat person, but like Amp am horribly allergic and asthmatic around them. I’d bet that if I saved up the money, I’d be willing to go for it and give it a shot. I really miss my cat, but I sure as heck don’t miss the allergies.
I would certainly be concerned that in the process of creating this type of cat we might open them up to other genetic anomalies. I’d probably go into the process knowing that the cat may die sooner than a normal cat would, or that there’d be a chance it might have some abnormal side effect. But I’d probably take that chance.
Rereading what I just wrote, I certainly see the point of people who don’t think we should fool with mother nature? Who am I to hold my desire for a cat above the cat’s life itself?
And yet the purring, meowing and rubbing against my leg seem to make it all worthwhile…
The idea of genetically engineered pets might seem unnatural, but if the modified gene doesn’t have any adverse effects(hopefully the company will check for that before offering these cats for sale), is there really any problem?
Or you could get a chinchilla instead - they’re naturally hypoallergenic, or so I’ve heard.
Actually, pets are already “genetically engineered.” That’s why we have dozens and dozens of different breeds of dogs, and quite a few breeds of cats now. Domestic animals been selectively bred for hundreds of years for both personality traits and physical characteristics.
Selection for specific characteristics has already resulted in health problems for some breeds of animals. English Bulldogs, for instance, are usually delivered via cesarean section because the pups’ heads are so big at birth they no longer fit through the mother’s birth canal.
So even without the scientists in the white lab coats splicing and dicing genes, there’s already quite a bit of unnatural ickiness going on if you think about it, and no one really seems to mind.
Actually, romansperson, a lot of people do mind the breeding programs that have resulted in animals that are basically non-viable without human intervention (and I’m one of them). The problem I have with these breeding programs that the health of the animals doesn’t seem to be the top priority; it seems to fall behind having a “cute” pushed-in nose or ridiculously short/long legs. If I knew that the genetic modifications were rigourously studied to make sure that the modification that benefits humans at least does no harm to the cats, then I have no problem with it.
This does have a “slippery slope” feel to me, too. Once we modify for allergens, then we modify for softer fur, no claws, no fangs, no desire to go outside, make their poop non-smelly, etc. Then we work our way up to humans. I can’t honestly say that I feel this is bad; I have things wrong with me that I would love to have modified away. I can’t honestly say I think it’s completely good, either. Maybe I’ve just read to many sci-fi novels were gene engineering went horribly wrong. 
“too” many sci-fi novels. Sheesh.
Well, on the one hand, this professor doesn’t sound like a total nutcase.
http://www.canr.uconn.edu/ansci/faculty/jxy.htm
On the other hand, when I clicked on “Next” at the bottom of the article, it brought me to “Loch Ness Monster Mystery Solved?”
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20010625/nessie.html
So don’t hold your breath, boys and girls.
While they’re at it, they should come up with a cat that doesn’t have to shit.
No sneezing, no watery eyes, no shitbox in the john. Man, I’d get ME a cat, then.
But I’d still wait for the price to come down.
Your all talking about cats like they’re a household appliance. I would be willing to sacrafice many things for the love of a cat.
I don’t think they should genetically engineer the cats. What if they end up having horrible defects when they get older? And they shouldn’t have to pay for the crappiness of someones immune system (if you dont already know, allergies happen because of a failure in the immune system with certain cells. It’s complicated, they had a 1 hour show about it on the discovery channel.) I just think people with those allergies should just not have pets.
Give that man a cigar. I’ve been trying to make this point to the “frankenfood” idiots for many years now. Every single food that you eat, plant and animal, is the product of many decades, if not centuries, of genetic manipulation. Except they used to call it “plant hybridization” and “animal husbandry.”
Anyway, we are already far up the slippery slope, no recombinant DNA technologies or anything like that are needed. If you don’t believe me, look at what the goddam “twisty cat” breeders are doing:
It’s certainly a slippery slope. Sure, we start out with non-allergenic cats, but before you know it, we end up with…with…
Hmm. When I think of where we’ll end up, I think about the Simpson’s Halloween special segment that was a take-off of the short story “It’s a Good Life”, where Bart ended up making the cat “more interesting”.
…with F1 Hybrid “Better Boy” tomatoes like the ones growing on my patio, Guernsey cows, siamese cats, yoghurt, sourdough bread, etc.
featherlou said:
I mind too, but apparently not enough people do, seeing as how it still goes on pretty much unabated.
At any rate, I find it extraordinarily interesting that while people have been messing with the genes of animals and plants for a long time now, it’s only with the recent development of highly technical ways of even further refining genetic makeup that there seems to be a fuss. I suppose it has to do with overactive imaginations and fear that “if they can do that to plants and animals, then I’M NEXT”! Maybe when these technologies become more common and better understood, that sort of fear will go away.
I don’t expect anyone to be building a Master Race of any living being in their basement for quite some while yet :).
I think the only reason people are realizing genetic engineering now is because there is a whole lot more technology involved then there used to be. When people think of genetic engineering, they think of test-tube babies and big labs with tons of cool looking stuff around; not a farmer cross breeding plants and animals.
And i think the reason people fear genetic engineering in humans is because of the loss of individuality. Sure i’d like to be cute and smart, but what is the fun of it if john doe is exactly the same way? I guess it comes down to personality, which would be a horrid situation for shallow people.
As for the cats with deformities thing, if it helps the cat, then i think it’s a good thing, but if the cat is in pain, then they shouldn’t do it. My friend’s cat had a deformity. She had extra thumbs, which actually proved to be an advantage. She could kick any other cats ass. So she probably would have started a whole new trait in cats if natural selection was in place.
Ok, im done ranting now.
I find genetics fascinating, and I would love to live in a world where they are routinely used on humans to improve human lives, but in this, like in all things, I would advocate a slow, cautious journey into directly manipulating humans (and other higher animals) genetically. All of our advanced and advancing technologies need to be used wisely to avoid the pitfalls that might come along with them. Maybe the fear will go away when the technologies become better understood; that would be my hope, but it seems like the alarmists in the crowd are the only ones getting any airtime at this point.
(About that twisty cat site - that was truly horrible. I read to the point where they were touting twisty cats as better than average cats because they can’t run away or damage furniture with their deformed legs, then I couldn’t read any more. Awful, horrible people.)