Frankencat.This is one story not to sniffle over--especially for those allergic to cats. A Los Angeles-based biotech startup is promising to produce the world's first hypo hypo: see sodium thiosulfate. allergenic Allergenic A substance capable of causing an allergic reaction. Mentioned in: Echinococcosis feline. That's right--cats that won't make you sneeze sneeze, involuntary violent expiration of air through the nose and mouth. It results from stimulation of the nervous system in the nose, causing sudden contraction of the muscles of expiration. and wheeze wheeze (hwez) a whistling type of continuous sound. wheeze v. To breathe with difficulty, producing a hoarse whistling sound. n. A wheezing sound. if you're one of the 27 million Americans with cat allergies. The company, Geneticas Life Sciences Inc., claims it can produce allergen free versions of British Shorthair cats by 2007 using a technology called RNA interference, which will silence a gene that produces the protein that causes allergic reactions. "Our aim is to produce 200,000 cats by 2010 once we have done the embryonic modification and the kittens inherit the genetic manipulation," Said Chief Executive Simon Brodie. The company, which announced the project last month, has been inundated in·un·date tr.v. in·un·dat·ed, in·un·dat·ing, in·un·dates 1. To cover with water, especially floodwaters. 2. with inquiries from would-be pet owners willing to fork out the $250 to reserve one of the pets, which will sell for $3,500. The company says it will not need Food and Drug Administration approval to engineer the cat, since other genetically modified pets, such as a fish genetically engineered to glow, did not require it. |
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