Gene-edited beagles may offer future option for people with dog allergies

Matt Walker couldn’t pet a dog without sneezing — until he and other scientists used a gene-editing technique to produce a hypoallergenic beagle named Bailey. Now, he can feed Bailey spoons of peanut butter while she lies on his lap and play fetch with her in New York City’s Central Park. His allergies didn’t go away: Bailey’s saliva and hair no longer contain a key allergy-causing protein. “The feeling right now is sort of a mix of relief and awe and gratitude that it worked,” said Walker, a geneticist. His company, Kindred Companion Sciences, created Bailey and her twin Alfie using a Nobel Prize-winning technique called CRISPR. It’ll take years before the millions who suffer from dog-related allergies can walk into a pet store and buy a pooch like Alfie or Bailey.