Cats
could be caused by a faulty version of a gene called kit. What the researchers found was
counter-intuitive. Previously it was widely thought that the defective kit gene slowed cells
down, but instead they found that it reduced the rate at which the pigment cells multiply. This
did not surprise cat fanciers who had noticed that pigmented patches could fit together like a
jigsaw and likened the process to “plate tectonics” where pigmented patches drift across the
embryo’s skin leaving unpigmented areas inbetween the patches. Researchers at the
Universities of Bath and Edinburgh said that in addition to kit, there are many other genes
that can create piebald patterns, but their the mathematical model can explain piebald patterns
regardless of the genes involved.
This wasn't entirely surprising to many cat fanciers with an interest in genetics or
embryology! Independently of scientific researchers, and based on observation, fanciers had
annaabi.ee 
