A team of researchers say they have found a way to block the most common source of cat allergies. Hypoallergenic cats can be just as healthy as the typical feline, according to their findings.
The fur and dander that cats excrete into the environment aren't the true cause of allergies. The fur that cats are constantly cleaning is thought to cause over 90 percent of cat allergies. Scientists are trying to reduce the burden of cat allergies, which can affect up to 20% of people.
The researchers at InBio have been working on their own approach. They are hoping to use CRISPR to make cats that make little to no Fel d 1. They say they have collected evidence that this can be done safely and effectively.
They found two genes that are involved in producing Fel d 1 that are suitable for editing with CRISPR. They found that there was a lot of variation between the groups when they compared the genes of the cats to the wild cats. Other research has suggested that Fel d 1 is not essential to cat biology and can be eliminated without any health risks. Some cat breeds, like the Russian blue and Balinese, are often promoted as being better for people with allergies because they may naturally produce less Fel d 1. In the lab, the team used CRISPR on cat cells, which seemed to be effective at knocking out Fel d 1 and appeared to produce no off-target edits in the areas they predicted would most likely happen.
According to the researchers, their findings show that Fel d 1 is both a rational and viable candidate for gene deletion, which may benefit cat allergy sufferers by removing the major allergen at the source.
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