GoKawiilResearchers identify DNA deletion behind orange cat coloring
Two independent research teams have traced orange fur in cats to a small missing DNA segment near a gene called Arhgap36, located on the X chromosome. Stanford geneticist Greg Barsh and colleagues found this 5-kilobase deletion present in every orange cat examined among 188 cats studied, and found orange-producing skin cells expressed 13 times more Arhgap36 RNA than non-orange cells.