[Techno music blasting]
Anyone have any Ecstasy?
But seriously folks, what is going on here is an experiment by the good folks over at the Mayo Clinic. According to NPR News, a new experiment with monkey genes protect cats against HIV infection and jellyfish genes make them glow. We may just be looking at the end of feline AIDS, People.
oontz oontz oontz oontz
DEXTER! I was trying to figure out how to make that sound and you tewtelly did it, concatulations.
Momma kitten: No more late night dance parties for you, young man. How many times have I told you that glow sticks have 0 nutritional value?
*giggle*
“The system is down.”
Wow… I would have expected a story like that from The Onion, not NPR! That is really freaking awesome!
they’re extending research into the human population, but no word if those who receive treatment will glow.
the jellyfish genes are so they can tell which kitties are immune to HIV.
You mean FIV? Presumably all kitties are immune to HIV.
Last one to the glowing tattoo shop is a dust-bunny!
i so love theonion.com reflects the beauty of my brain. uih, somehow.
i am trying to understand why glowing would have to do with blocked FIV virus? does it just block common transmission routes, like, nuh, uh, no glow girl for me..nuh uh.
sadf
As I understand it (subject to being corrected), the glowing doesn’t have anything to do with blocking FIV. It’s a marker. They put the “blocks FIV” gene and the “glows like a jellyfish” gene inside the same “package” that is to be delivered to the kitty’s genes. Apparently, it’s not a sure thing that the “package” will be delivered successfully, but if it IS delivered, both genes will be in the kitty. So, if it got the glow gene, it got the anti-FIV gene too. Apparently it’s hard to tell if a kitty has the anti-FIV gene, so they use this glow-gene trick to identify the kitties on which the experiment to implant the anti-FIV gene worked.
But glowing doesn’t protect them from FIV. It merely indicates that they ARE protected. Does that make sense?
Yes. Yes, it does. Thank you.
Basically, if the gene sequences were inserted, and in the correct place in the genome, then it’ll be quite obvious, because the cat will glow. If not, then they shouldn’t expect the cat to be immune to FIV either.
Ok this makes me fell a lot better I pray it works.. I adore our feline fur babies
Ditto here.
I would like one in pink plz!
I hope it works for the kitties too.
There is a good article in Cat Fancy Nov. 2011 issue I just got
about Feline sicknesses. No kitty should have to suffer with Feline HIV or Cancer.
HIV= human immunodeficiency virus.
FIV= feline immunodeficiency virus.
I hope this is the end of FIV-I’ve owned too many kitties who fell prey to it, since it spread like wildfire among feral cats in the area.
Sadly the only way they have to tell whether or not the therapy works and the kitten is actually immune to FIV is to expose it to FIV and see if it catches.
I too hope they develop an effective therapy, but the road to that therapy will be littered with intentionally-infected FIV-positive cats.
And if we do nothing, there will be even more FIV-positive cats and no cure whatsoever.
BTW, not all FIV -infected cats die from it but you need to be extra careful with them.
Oh, I’m not saying it shouldn’t be done. I’m just saddened that part of it is exposing them to the disease.
I had the same reaction to the story, John. And I want my own glow-in-the-dark kitty–imagine, no more wondering if it’s a burglar or just your cat knocking something over in the night!
could be done in a dish. don’t have to infect kitty as a trial. could mix bloods with prevention ex felinus. you can be sure they don’t go around infecting people to test prevention.
Fortunately, it is very possible to keep a cat with FIV healthy. They need to remain indoors and away from outside cats, since their immune system is compromised. Also, they must be neutered (which we should all be taking care of anyway!) since FIV is spread both through sex and through biting.
FIV cats can even live with other healthy cats once they have been safely neutered or spayed. It is quite difficult for an altered cat to spread the disease – they have to be in a position where they bite hard enough to break skin, which means real fighting – something your indoor buddies shouldn’t be doing.
Also: Remember folks, there IS a vaccination against FIV! Keep that on your list of shots, just like the dreaded Feline Leukemia. No vaccination is100% effective, but it is a great stride in the right direction for protecting your pets.
Holly, unlike the feline leukemia vaccine, the FIV vaccine has a low efficacy because the vaccine only protects against 2 of the 5 strains of FIV and, outside of laboratory conditions, the virus is so prone to mutation that it may not protect against the other two strains. It will cause the cat to test (false) positive on FIV tests. It is a killed, adjuvanted vaccine, so it increases a cat’s risk of vaccine-associated sarcoma (cancer).
The American Association of Feline Practitioners states it in not appropriate except for outdoor fighting cats and cats that live with FIV+ cats, and only with a permanent form of identification that they have received the vaccine.
http://www.catvets.com/uploads/HTML/VaccineSummary.html
For these reasons, very, very few veterinarians use this vaccine.
Really.
Thank you for that information, Glow-Orb. I knew it wasn’t as effective as most other vaccines, but that takes the cake. The day I stop learning is the day I die.
Thank you! You would not believe the fights I have had to have with vets who want to “vaccinate” my 2 non FIV+ cats because I have 1 FIV+ cat. Honestly, I’ve had too many fosters come up with false positives because they had been vaccinated then I had to argue for the “send the blood out” test (comprehensive and won’t make mistakes for false positives) in an effort to keep perfectly healthy cats in a rescue that had the opinion they should be euthanized because they were FIV+. I got Alcoa, my FIV+ kitty, after the group said she had to be euthanized because of her status (I’m not with that group anymore). My little girl is now 16 years old and, with one exception, perfectly healthy and full of spit and vinegar as I and her vet like to say. My other 2 cats are perfectly healthy but, until I finally got a vet that knew what they were doing, each time I would take them in for shots, etc..I got the stink eye for daring to have a mixed home of FIV+ and non-FIV+ cats and told I needed to vaccinate them. I tell them to do their research (as I did) and not go back. Needless to say my current vet is a gem and I won’t be leaving him anytime soon.
As an aside – consider adopting an FIV+ cat and bring joy to a kitty in need.
Mom there looks as happy as Rudolph’s dad.
He’s all: MOM. I WILL protect you. I am the kitty from the future and I am awesome!
I love that they are doing this. When I read it I told my cat I should make him glow like that bebie kitton. He just glared at me and said he wouldn’t be able to freak me out when he jumps into bed with me.
On the serious side. It really is cool.
I would love to see the end of FIV. I’d also like to have a glowing kitty. It could double as a night light.
The kitty needs a pacifier too.
I love the look on Mama Cat’s face–she’s all “great, Junior’s glowing again. I’m never going to get any sleep.”
I love mama cats’ put-upon faces.
She’s all “Would. You. Please. Stop. Glowing. For the 50th time.”
that was my reaction exactly-”could someone please turn this kitten off.”
Very interesting. I certainly hope these experiments lead to an FIV-free future!
Same here
I would also just love to cuddle that kitty 
That kitty looks RADIOACTIVE. Everybody, flee !!! Even the fleas r glowing too!!
I don’t want glow kitty. I want mo’ kitty!
Cat nightlights!
And the award for entrepreneur of the year goes to………….. Ms. Emma!
In Sweden we don’t have FIV, guess it’sa resultat from strict import rules. Where in the world does cats have that? And yea, glowing cats that humans infected with HIV (FIV) virus. Really cute. Is it right to kill one person to save 10? Morals people, morals. It’s us humans who had spread the disease by the way we treat and keep our animals. Who of you wants to be the person who infects the kitty with the virus and notice that the little kitty wont glow? People playing God.
Maria, it’s a worldwide problem that not only infects hundreds of thousands of cats in many countries, but this research is directly relevant to HIV in humans. It may not be in Sweden now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be. This is extremely important work!
Hai. Ahm a jerk frum Schveden. Ja.
Unfortunately, it exists in Sweden as well, it just isn’t quite as common as in some other countries (possibly due to the relatively controlled feral cat population), so if you live in Sweden and have a cat, you should definitely know about it.
Just a FYI, and here’s some info: http://www.agria.se/Katt/artikel/Fiv-och-FeLv—allvarliga-kattsjukdomar
“Hungry? You wouldn’t like me when I am hungry…. RAWR!”
-Love-
Hulkitty
Lets not be complaining about this . I t is important that we find a cure for HIV and all these other diseases while there is still time.May the Lord Jesus Christ help us all to accomplish this task , Then we wont have to continue to use animals any more to help find cures !!
Amen, Bob. The end of AIDs in both our human and animal friends would be the best ever.
Yeah. My dad died of AIDS. So I feel a cure would be really great.
queenie, i am terribly sorry to hear of that. i used to work in this field, treatment development/vaccine/preventive measures. if it is any consolation to keep in your heart, the researchers work at full tilt, flat out speed to find ways to prevent, arrest, vaccinate against HIV. to me the most interesting thing is the people who were exposed and converted back in the early eighties but never progressed at all. it appears to be a caucasian genetic fault. people who have a normal gene at that site and presumably not caucasian do develop hiv. so this population is being intensively studied to find out how a faulty gene can block progression.
bless.
kiss.
i am in the mod lounge for this. want some peanuts and crackerjacks, a chickensalad sandwich and a delaware punch. thank you ever so munch
*Slips the contraband to wannadance*
CAT/kitty/kitten/ meep/
please, mods, aafter i finish my delaware punch, get me OUTA HERE. i just forgot to say feline related stuff. i was enchanted with the sound of my own voice….
TINEE TABBEE!
T.U.M. loves Tinee Tabbies… So do i
“Anyone have any Ecstacy?”
Who needs drugs when you have a GLOW-IN-THE-DARK KITTIE!!!!!
(I’ll take two please.)
Ecstacy or Kitty, Martha?
Drugs are bay-ad. M’kay?
Shine, little glow-kit, glimmer, glimmer!
Sweet little glow cat purr and shimmer.
if Marmalumens isn’t a palindrome, it should be.
Is this the same kitty that had that sad look the other day?
That sweet face that said “how could you!”
Techno kitty
nts, nts, nts
Heyyyy, I want to glow under a blacklight, too!!! Where can I get some jellyfish genes to inject into me? I would be a hit at all the raves!
Awesome research, but I’m glad my Bucky doesn’t glow….he’d scare the bajeebers outta me at night when he does his surprise attack on my tummy or chest in the middle of the night !!!
Good works aside, I am not sure I would be able to sleep if I glowed. Hope the kittehs are getting some zzz.
I don’t think there’s anything that would keep a kitteh awake. They sleep ALL the time!
Imagine, if you could glow at night think of the money you’d save on your electric bill! No lights needed! Nyuck,nyuck,nyuck!!!
So I think it’s GFP spliced into the gene sequence in the DNA that encodes for a certain target protein, in this case probably a protein that has something to do with HIV virus obviously.
I want the cat.
you mean inherently spliced (born with) or spliced in by someone with very good vision and steady hands, as blocker? all labbers want to know….(clearly your very cogent explanation is accurate_
i want the cat: LOLOLOLO
Awwww the precious glowy face and toenails!! Must cuddle glowy kitten!!
how ’bout mo’ glo’ kitty?
I (heart) Meg!
i wonder if that could work for humans…
Does this make him a Jellicle Cat?
Lots of big words and facts and science-y stuff! I just want teh bebeh green kitteh!!!
(But seriously, it’s good news, a step in the right direction for healthy kitties and people!)
IF this is possible to rid kitties of Feline AIDS…BRING ON THE GLOW!
He’s or She is cute ..but know one should be messing around with Genes! mixed with Jellyfish..NO CAT SHOULD BE GLOWING IN THE DARK!
This story was written in anticipation of April Fool’s Day, right?
Now wheeeeere’s PETA?
There’s actually a Bob Cat at a Wildcat reserve in…Arkansas, I think, who beat Feline HIV, but was blinded as a result.
He’s one of two handicapped felines there, the other of which was a three legged black leopard who had to get an amputation after getting a nasty swiping from another cat.
Bery bery cute kitteh