“The natural disaster in our area is not hurricanes, or tornadoes, or earthquakes; it is Lyme disease,” says MIT associate professor and pioneer in genetic engineering Kevin Esvelt, describing the severity of the tick-borne illness in the Northeast. In Nantucket, Massachusetts, 15% of residents have been afflicted with the disease, which can cause fever, rash, facial paralysis, an irregular heartbeat, and arthritis. #lymedisease #science #geneticengineering