# Genetic engineers are building a sneeze-free cat for allergic catlovers.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genetic-engineers-are-building-a-sneeze-free-cat-for-allergic-catlovers/299316>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 14, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genetic-engineers-are-building-a-sneeze-free-cat-for-allergic-catlovers/299316 "2005-04-14T17:57:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genetic-engineers-are-building-a-sneeze-free-cat-for-allergic-catlovers/299316/21 "2005-04-26T20:36:49Z")

</div>

> [@Taber](#):
>
> I don’t think allergies are genetic
> 
> I think it involves what you’re exposed to as a baby. A baby gets exposed to cat hair/dust mites/pollen/etc… and the immune system treats it as a threat, and gets “immune” to that “disease.” When that person gets exposed to it later in life, they try to reject that substence.

Allergies are a big mystery. It might be genetic, it might be an immune response everyone on earth is capable of having given the right circumstances, it might be a combination. Besides, the whole “you get allergies by being exposed to it early” thepry does nothnig to explain those people who died (or came very close to it) after getting stung by a bee for the first time, whereas peopel like me, who get stung darn near every summer (sometimes multiple times each summer…) get nothing more than a few minutes of mild pain.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genetic-engineers-are-building-a-sneeze-free-cat-for-allergic-catlovers/299316/22 "2005-05-01T21:39:56Z")

</div>

> [@Omniscient](#):
>
> Doesn’t work, had a cat when I was born, lived with it for 14 years. A few years later, as an adult, my alergies kicked in big time, now I get a _severe_ reaction to kitties.
> 
> Don’t know the mechanism, but that ain’t all there is to it.

Ditto.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genetic-engineers-are-building-a-sneeze-free-cat-for-allergic-catlovers/299316/23 "2005-05-02T02:36:38Z")

</div>

> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#):
>
> Okay, so all of us with severe allergies just won’t breed. :dubious:

I said “build,” not “selectively engage in human eugenics.” I’m allergic to cats too, and my cat just loves to smear himself all over me and make my eyes swell shut.

As long as we’re genetically designing things, why not make humans “stronger” rather than making cats “weaker?”

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genetic-engineers-are-building-a-sneeze-free-cat-for-allergic-catlovers/299316.md?page=1)