For decades, scientists couldn’t figure out how orange cats got their pumpkin-colored coats. Now two research groups have independently made the same discovery: Orangeness in cats is caused by a mutation.
The scientists discovered a change in orange cats’ DNA—the molecule that carries hereditary information. This change increases the activity of a nearby gene—or unit of hereditary material—called Arhgap36. This gene isn’t involved in fur or hair color in other mammal species, like mice or humans. But surprisingly, it seems to be responsible for triggering orange cats’ color-producing cells to create reddish pigments!