Gene editing now possible in ticks

Researchers have successfully used CRISPR-Cas9 to edit the genomes of the black-legged tick. To accomplish this feat, they developed an embryo injection protocol that overcame a major barrier in the field.

"Despite their capacity to acquire and pass on an array of debilitating pathogens, research on ticks has lagged behind other arthropod vectors, such as mosquitoes, largely because of challenges in applying available genetic and molecular tools," says Monika Gulia-Nuss a co-senior author of the study and a molecular biologist at the University of Nevada, Reno.

"Having genome-editing tools available will allow us to unlock some of the secrets of the tick genome and allow us to determine how these unique animals survive in the environment, how they interact with pathogens, and how we might prevent ticks from spreading diseases to humans and livestock," she says.

Despite the public health relevance of ticks – which are vectors of a wide variety of pathogens to humans, wildlife, and domestic animals – knowledge of the biology of ticks on a molecular level is still limited. This is in contrast to insects such as mosquitoes, for which numerous tools for transgenic development and genome editing are now available. "Progress in this area is critical for the advancement of research to solve the growing problem of tick-borne diseases," says Andrew Nuss, the other co-senior author of the study and an entomologist at the University of Nevada, Reno.