Gene therapy jab offers cheap and safe way to sterilise stray cats
Treatment could help to tackle populations of feral cats that threaten wildlife
One jab can safely sterilise domestic cats, a study has shown. The gene therapy approach could be used to control populations of feral cats.
The gene therapy jab offers an easier, safer and cheaper alternative to spaying, which involves opening the abdomens of female cats and surgically removing their ovaries. The new therapy introduces an adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector that ferries a gene for a cat hormone into the animal’s cells. The gene then becomes active inside cells, manufacturing anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH). This circulates in the animal, reaching the ovaries, where it blocks the maturation of oocytes or eggs.