DNA floating in the air tracks wildlife, viruses: even drugs

But it’s not just music floating in the breeze. Dublin’s air also contains cannabis, poppy, even magical fungi, at least its DNA.

According to a new study that reveals the power of DNA, air aspirate, which can trace everything, from elusive in the mountains to illicit drugs.

“The level of information that is available in the environmental DNA is such that we are only beginning to consider what can be, from humans, to wildlife and other species that have implications for human health,” said David Duffy, Ph.D., professor of genomics of wildlife diseases at the University of Florida and the main author of a new study that shows the general use of the air of the air of air.

Located in the UF Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, Duffy’s laboratory developed new methods to decipher environmental DNA, also known as Edna, to study marine turtle genetics. They have expanded the tools to study all species, including humans, of DNA captured in environmental samples such as water, soil and sand.

But these wandering DNA threads are not only established on muddy soil or flow along the rivers. The air itself is infused with genetic material. A simple air filter that is executed for hours, days or weeks can collect signs of almost all species that grow or roam close.

“When we started, it seemed difficult to obtain large intact fragments of air DNA. But that is not the case. We are actually finding a lot of informative DNA,” Duffy said. “That means that you can study species without having to disturb them directly, without having to see them. Open great possibilities to study all species in an area simultaneously, from microbes and viruses to vertebrates such as coils and humans, and everything else.”

As proof of concept, the researchers showed that they could collect signs of hundreds of human pathogens different from the Dublin air, including viruses and bacteria. Such surveillance could help scientists track emerging diseases. The same method can track common allergens, such as peanuts or pollen, more precisely than possible, scientists discovered.

In another test of Edna’s power, Duffy’s laboratory could also identify the origin of mobile cats and spiders whose DNA was revealed from the air in a Florida forest. With little more than an air filter, scientists could track endangered species and identify where they came from, all without having to look at scared or root animals around the forest floors for SCAT samples. When trying to save and conserve wildlife, know where an animal originates can be as important as knowing where it is currently.

This powerful analysis was combined with impressive speed and efficiency. The team showed that a single researcher could process DNA for each species in just one day using compact and affordable equipment and software hosted in the cloud. That rapid change is orders of magnitude faster than it would have been possible only a few years ago and opens advanced environmental studies to more scientists around the world. The same tools can potentially identify delicate human genetic data, so Duffy and their collaborators have requested ethical railings for the fast development field of Edna.

“It seems science fiction, but it is becoming a scientific fact,” said Duffy. “Technology finally coincides with the scale of environmental problems.”