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【bio-news】谁说科研不靠运气：看看美国的防过敏
防过敏宠物！得来全不费工夫！
Non-allergenic cats on the market are a natural breed.
市场上出售的防过敏宠物猫是自然血统的
Michael Hopkin
This week witnessed an event that will have some animal lovers cheering: the arrival on the market of long-promised 'allergy-free' pet cats. But you might be surprised at how low-tech these cute kitties are — especially considering the almost US$4,000 price tag.
这周传来的消息让宠物爱好者欢欣鼓舞：“传说”中的防过敏症的宠物猫上市了。但是你可能非常奇怪这种可爱小猫的技术含量之低，特别是当你了解到它居然要卖4000美圆的时候。
The cats are being sold by Allerca, a company based in San Diego, California. It is currently taking orders for deliveries next year.
加州圣迭戈市的Allerca公司正在出售这种宠物猫。现在只能接受订单而最早送货要等到明年。
Founder Simon Brodie says he started by trying to genetically engineer a low-allergy cat, but during the early testing stages the team accidentally stumbled on animals that seemed to be naturally sniffle-free.
公司创始人之一的西蒙.布洛迪说：他们开始是想设法通过遗传工程方法培育一种防敏感症的猫，但是在早期的实验中，研究小组意外发现野生的“防敏感症”的动物。
"Maybe you could say we got lucky," he says, with the "totally naturally occurring cat."
他说：“可能你会说我们很幸运能碰到这种野生基因突变型猫咪”。
That has allowed the company to be first on the scene in what is predicted to be a very lucrative market, overtaking companies attempting to create hypoallergenic cats by transgenic methods.
这项成果使得该公司能超越其他通过转基因方法培育低变应原猫的公司，而在这个大有希望的市场占领非常有利的位置。
Allerca has not yet published any data on its cats, although Brodie says that the company intends to do so.
虽然布洛迪说他们公司将发布研究成果，但是到目前为止，Allerca公司还没有对外公开任何关于这种猫的数据。
Hush hush
Allerca initially planned to use the gene-silencing technique called RNA interference to quieten the gene that encodes Feld1, the protein that affects allergy sufferers. For those whose antibodies overreact to this protein, symptoms can include swelling, breathing problems, hives and even anaphylactic shock.
Allerca公司最初是计划用基因静默技术（RNAi）来沉默编码Feld1（导致过敏性反应的蛋白）的基因。抗体对这种蛋白产生过度反应，从而导致红肿、呼吸困难、麻疹甚至过敏性休克等症状。
But when testing the genetic diagnostic tools that would be used to detect which cats had had the correct gene silenced, the team found three cats that make a slightly different version of the protein, one that does not harm allergy sufferers. Brodie describes it as a 50,000 to 1 shot.
但是当研究小组检测野生猫，以测试将用于检测转基因猫体内基因是否正确被沉默的基因诊断工具的工作是否正常时，却意外发现了3只猫体内的蛋白（Feld1）表达有细微差别，而其中又有一只猫不会引起过敏症。布洛迪说野生猫中出现这种变异型的概率只有5w分之一。
To test the cats, the group looked in detail at a second-generation descendant of this stock: a feline named Joshua.
研究小组仔细研究了这只动物的后代，并取名叫Joshua。
Sheldon Spector, a clinical allergy expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, recruited ten allergic volunteers, blindfolded them, and exposed them to Joshua, a regular cat named Tiki, or a furry dummy cat. Subsequent diaries of their symptoms suggest that Joshua was more allergy-friendly than Tiki.
落山讥市加里副尼亚大学的临床过敏症专家谢耳登.spector征集了10位过敏症患者，将他们眼睛蒙上，然后让他们分别摸Joshua、普通猫Tiki和一个假猫。后来通过他们出现症状的结果证明Joshua比Tiki更加不容易引起过敏症。
The data have not been published in a journal. Spector says that Allerca paid his expenses for the research.
这次实验数据并没有发表。Spector说是因为Allerca公司支付了他研究的经费。
Cat fight
The work has prompted strong scepticism from a rival company. "I don't think you can have a non-GM hypoallergenic cat," argues David Avner, founder of Felix Pets in Denver, Colorado, which is attempting to use genetic modification (GM) to create low-allergy pets.
这项研究遭到了竞争对手的强烈质疑。科罗拉多州丹佛市的Felix宠物公司的创始人大卫.文纳说：“我不相信能通过非基因工程的方法培育出一条低抗原的猫。”Felix公司一直致力于通过基因工工程的方法来培育低过敏性的宠物。
Avner says that Allerca should publish data showing whether or not proteins from the cats' skin and hair bind to human antibodies in the test tube, a process that underpins the allergic reaction.
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-01-24 17:14
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