Scientists have found a way to make cats hypoallergenic

According to a new study published in magazineEvolutionary Biology and Gene Editing of Cat Allergen, Fel d 1 CRISPR, the protein that causes most allergies to cats, can be safely removed from the genome of pets.

To do this, gene editing technology can be used, with which researchers have already managed to prevent animal cells from reproducing the culprit molecule.

Cat allergies, which 15% of people have, are mostly caused by a protein called Fel d 1. It is excreted in the saliva and tears of animals and gets on their fur when animals groom themselves. As pets shed, the irritating compound can build up in the home, which is immediately felt by allergy sufferers.

After analyzing the DNA of 50 domestic cats, the study authors identified regions of two genes, known as CH1 and CH2, that code for the Fel d 1 protein. To determine if these targets are good candidates for gene editing, they studied genomes of eight different wild cat species and found that these coding regions can strongly differ.

This discovery led to the conclusion that the Fel 1 d genes were not evolutionarily conserved. Accordingly, they are not essential to the biology of cats and could theoretically be removed without harm to the animals. Previously, scientists were not sure if this was the case, since the function of the protein is not fully understood.

By words authors of the study, Fel 1 d is not found in any other organisms, except for the cat family. However, a similar protein in mice has already been genetically deleted without any deleterious effects, supporting the notion that this compound is probably not life-saving.

This was confirmed by a preliminary experiment using gene editing technology, in which the regions encoding Fel 1 d in cat cells were removed. It did not cause unwanted genetic responses where off-target changes could have been predicted.

Alternative approaches to cat allergy management are likely to be ineffective as they do not completely eliminate Fel d 1. For example, cat foods containing protein-degrading antibodies have been shown to reduce antigen levels by only 47%, while vaccines are less than 50% effective.

As a rule, allergy sufferers show symptoms even when exposed to a small amount of Fel 1 d, therefore, the complete destruction of the protein using gene editing technology may be the only decision.

More research is currently needed to improve this technique, but researchers are optimistic that future research will focus on developing means to remove the Fel d 1 genes already in adult cats. This will make pets hypoallergenic.