Building Disease Resilience for the Black-Footed Ferret

The black-footed ferret is one of the most endangered mammals in North America. Once on the brink of extinction, the modern population is descended from just seven individual animals. With such a limited genetic pool, black-footed ferrets are at risk from disease outbreaks, including sylvatic plague, which quickly can kill an entire population, threatening recovery and conservation efforts. Researchers will study if novel gene-editing methods, performed under laboratory conditions, could help improve disease resilience in the species. If successful, findings will inform novel vaccine approaches aimed at improving and/or restoring adaptive immunity to sylvatic plague in black-footed ferrets. This study has the potential to greatly change the landscape of disease management in the species.