低过敏猫让爱猫人不再打喷嚏 No-Sneeze Kitties for Cat Lovers Who Have Allergies and $4,000 田思怡译 加州一家小生物科技公司说，公司准备运交总产值350亿美元的宠物产业 圣杯：一只低过敏的猫咪。明年初，第一批小猫（该公司称为「生活品味宠物」 ）将来到殷殷企盼的主人家中，这些主人经过仔细筛选，而且已在等候名单上 等了两年多。 A small California biotech company says it is ready to deliver the Holy Grail of the $35 billion pet industry: a hypoallergenic cat. At the start of next year, the first kittens － which the company calls “lifestyle pets” － will go home to eager owners who have been carefully screened and have been on a waiting list for more than two years. 自从圣地牙哥的这家Allerca公司2004年10月宣布这项计画後，公司表示 已接到85国人士的询问，他们想买一种特别繁殖的猫，牠的腺体不会产生一种 引起人类对猫过敏的蛋白质。 Since it announced the project in October 2004, the company, Allerca, of San Diego, says it has received inquiries from people in 85 countries seeking to buy a cat bred so that its glands do not produce the protein responsible for most human cat allergies. 现在订购的猫，在美国要12到15个月才能送达，欧洲需15到18个月。费 用：4,000美元，而且猫主人必须通过Allerca极严苛的筛选测试。 Cats ordered now will take 12 to 15 months for delivery in the United States, 15 to 18 months in Europe. Cost: $4,000. And owners must pass Allerca’s finicky screening tests. 可能的买者要接受访问，探询他们的动机和热情，核准过程好像他们要 领养孩子一样。 Prospective buyers are interviewed for motivation and warmth, approved as if they were adopting a child. Allerca执行长梅根．杨说：「你不只是买一只猫，牠可是取代打针吃药 的医疗装备。同时，这是活生生的动物，因此，我们产品的福利比顾客优先。 这不是什麽高价手提包，不合意就束之高阁。」 “You’re not just buying a cat; it’s a medical device that replaces shots and pills,” said Megan Young, chief executive of Allerca. “At the same time, this is a living animal, so the well-being of our product comes before our customers. This is not some high-priced handbag that you put back on the shelf if it doesn’t match.” 在美国和欧洲，猫是最普遍的家庭宠物。 In the United States and Europe, cats are the most common household pets. 洛杉矶加州大学临床医学教授薛尔顿．史派克特研究低过敏的猫。 Dr. Sheldon Spector, a professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, studied the hypoallergenic cats. 10位对猫严重过敏的志愿者对Alleca的猫没有反应，不过他们对一般的 猫都出现过敏症状。史派克特说：「这不是已有定论的研究，却是有趣和 引人入胜的观念，能真正帮助人。」 Ten volunteers with severe cat allergies showed no reaction to the Allerca cats, though all had symptoms with normal animals. “This is not a definitive study, but it is an interesting and intriguing concept that could really help people,” Dr. Spector said. 他说，现阶段，他不会建议买这种猫，因为仍可能有某些人对较不常见的 猫蛋白多少有反应。 For the moment, he said he would not recommend buying the cats because there was still the chance that some people might react to some degree to less-common cat proteins. Allerca筛选数以千计的猫，找出一群拥有改良基因的猫，再用这些猫来 繁殖。因为突变的基因是显性，因此用来繁殖的猫可以和普通的猫交配，生 下低过敏猫。 Allerca screened thousands of cats to identify a population with the modified gene and then set those cats to breeding. Because the mutant gene is dominant, the breeding cats could be mated with normal cats to produce hypoallergenic kittens. 因此，Allerca的低过敏猫咪忙着生育。杨小姐说，猫咪的生育设施禁止参 观，而且「位於一个秘密、不对外透露的地点」。 So Allerca’s hypoallergenic cats have been busy reproducing. Their breeding facility cannot be visited and “is at a secret, undisclosed location,” said Ms. Young. 只有少数猫咪曾住在私宅，而且只住几周。上月，Allerca的公关顾问茱 莉．齐特洛夫斯基在她位於洛杉矶地区的公寓里养了一只Allerca的猫「约书 亚」几周。约书亚曾飞到加州「做些宣传」。 Only a few of the cats have lived in private homes, and only for a few weeks. Last month, an Allerca public relations consultant, Julie Chytrowsky, kept Joshua, an Allerca cat, for several weeks at her Los Angeles area apartment. Joshua had been flown to California to “do some publicity.” 齐特洛夫斯基说，她通常对猫很容易过敏，但她即便让约书亚睡在她床 上，也完全没有过敏症状。她说：「我已爱上牠，牠是货真价实的种猫，这麽 说吧，牠是种猫，如假包换。」 Ms. Chytrowsky, who says she is normally quite allergic, had no symptoms even though she al- lowed Joshua to sleep in her bed. “I fell in love with him,” she said. “He is a real stud － well, he is a stud, really.” They look like other cats, but a mutant gene makes this pair less likely to induce allergies. By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL International Herald Tribune 【2006-10-17/联合报/C7版/教育】 -- 赵客缦胡缨 吴钩霜雪明 银鞍照白马 飒沓如流星 十步杀一人 千里不留行 事了拂衣去 深藏身与名 闲过信陵饮 脱剑膝前横 将炙啖朱亥 持觞劝侯赢 三盃吐然诺 五岳倒为轻 眼花耳热後 意气素霓生 救赵挥金槌 邯郸先震惊 千秋二壮士 烜赫大梁城 纵使侠骨香 不惭世上英 谁能书合下 白首太玄经 李白 侠客行 --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 139.223.28.55