This isn't exactly why we do science, but still is pretty cool

I bet mostly everyone has heard about the no-sneeze kitties (ie, cats that don't cause allergies to most people allergic to normal cats).
That people have been investing on research of questionable ethic value is no news. I mean no offense to the poor cat lovers who can't have a kitty because of allergies, but let's be honest, there are way too many more urgent problems in this world that deserve our hard work and research funds.
But this is not why I am mentioning the kitties. I read a recent article about them on the news and learned this very interesting fact: the company that was engineering the allergen-free cats had chosen to silence the gene that makes the protein most allergenic to humans (FelD1). But while they were at it, they discovered a natural mutant, which made a far less allergenic version of the protein! Even better, the mutation was dominant. That's called freakin' LUCK. Why doesn't that happen in my research??
End of story - they were able to obtain no-sneeze kitties through breeding, no transgenics necessary, and skipped the whole licensing issue.
A no-sneeze kitty runs for U$4,000, and of course, they are neutered before delivery. I think it's wrong to charge that much money for a kitty when the making of it involves no technology at all. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that the mutant gene surely must have been patented. I certainly would not like to see my 4grand-kitty being run over by a car, and I'm sad to think that most of these poor little expensive kitties will end up being indoors-only. But I am sure they will lick their butts just the same.