Say What??? Glow-in-the-Dark Kitteh!

[Cmdr JFarrington 0]

 

Move over, Ms. Kitteh. The ultimate kitteh is in production, coming to a home near you!

 

 

Mayo Clinic Teams with Glowing Cats Against AIDS, Other Diseases

 

New Technique Gives Cats Protection Genes

 

Sunday, September 11, 2011

 

ROCHESTER, Minn.

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a genome-based immunization strategy to fight feline AIDS and illuminate ways to combat human HIV/AIDS and other diseases. The goal is to create cats with intrinsic immunity to the feline AIDS virus. The findings called fascinating and landmark by one reviewer appear in the current online issue of Nature Methods.

 

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) causes AIDS in cats as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) does in people: by depleting the body's infection-fighting T-cells. The feline and human versions of key proteins that potently defend mammals against virus invasion — termed restriction factors are ineffective against FIV and HIV respectively. The Mayo team of physicians, virologists, veterinarians and gene therapy researchers, along with collaborators in Japan, sought to mimic the way evolution normally gives rise over vast time spans to protective protein versions. They devised a way to insert effective monkey versions of them into the cat genome.

 

"One of the best things about this biomedical research is that it is aimed at benefiting both human and feline health," says Eric Poeschla, M.D., Mayo molecular biologist and leader of the international study. "It can help cats as much as people."

 

Okay, so maybe they aren't coming to a home near you, but one with immunity to FIV and glows in the dark? Awesome!

[Mitar Precip 0]

I believe one of these Cats was featured in National Geographic.

 

-Precip

[Kansas_Jones 0]

Whoa! That's pretty out of this world.

 

It would be a wonderful thing to combat both HIV and FIV, as long as the test kittens are treated well; that's the only thing that would upset me.

[Cmdr JFarrington 0]

I believe one of these Cats was featured in National Geographic.

 

-Precip

Yeah, that's where I first saw it. The NGEO one was cuter, too.