ASSOCIATED PRESS • April 22, 2022
Scientists at MIT are proposing releasing hordes of genetically altered mice on the posh vacation destination of Nantucket to combat the growing scourge of Lyme disease. Researchers with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab’s Mice Against Ticks project explained their plan to residents of the island off Cape Cod at a recent meeting. The scientists said hundreds of thousands of native white-footed mice engineered to resist the bacteria that causes Lyme could help slow disease transmission. Lyme disease cases have nearly doubled nationwide since 1991, with Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire registering the highest increases.