A new project to combat Lyme disease is set be underway in Nantucket , Massachusetts . Thousands of genetically modified mice are to be released on the island , to prevent them from spreading the Lyme bacterium to humans , which then infect people . This would be the first time that genetically modified animals have been released into the wild , using gene - editing technique CRISPR . The focus would be on identifying the genes that prevent some mice from transmitting the Lyme bacterium , then creating and releasing mice with combinations of those genes , to create a population of resistant mice . Nantucket has one of the highest rates of Lyme in the US , but its health board is n't convinced , with one official saying " We ’re not going to object to him doing his lab work , but we ’re a long way from putting his mice on this island . ”
A new project to combat Lyme disease is set be trialled in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Thousands of genetically modified mice are to be released on the island, to prevent them from spreading the Lyme bacterium to ticks, which then infect people. This would be the first time that genetically modified animals have been released into the wild, using gene-editing technique CRISPR. The focus would be on finding the genes that prevent some mice from transmitting the Lyme bacterium, then creating and releasing mice with copies of those genes, to create a population of resistant mice. Nantucket has one of the highest rates of Lyme in the US, but its health board isn't convinced, with one official stating "We’re not going to object to him doing his lab work, but we’re a long way from putting his mice on this island.”