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Would you support gene editing in wild animals to prevent disease?
Scientists in Nantucket are trying to release genetically engineered mice in order to prevent Lyme disease.
Scientists in Nantucket are modifying mice DNA on the island to prevent the spread of Lyme disease.
Dr. Kevin Esvelt, an MIT scientist, was featured in a recent “60 Minutes” segment, on his team’s use of CRISPR gene editing to engineer disease-resistent mice. The approach involves injecting antibodies directly into the DNA of mice ridding them of Lyme disease, which affects more than 15% of Nantucket residents. The engineered mice would pass immunity on to their offspring, and the resistance to the island’s ticks that feed on them.
Lyme disease can lead to rashes, facial paralysis, and arthritis, and rates have surged in recent summers.
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The new technology aims to speed up evolution stopping Lyme disease at its source. However, Esvelt and his team’s work out of MIT Media Lab’s Mice Against Ticks project is guided by the local community, and some residents are concerned.
Scientists have presented their findings to several town halls, though some are concerned the modified mice will have a negative impact on the food chain they support. Federal and state regulators must agree before the genetically engineered mice are released. Residents say they want more testing.
If federal and state regulators agree, the team plans to release the engineered mice in a small field trial to better understand the experiment’s ecological impacts before releasing them on Nantucket.
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