Latest news with #environmentalDNA
Irish Times
26-06-2025
- Science
- Irish Times
Scanning the air for life
We are a step closer to the legendary Star Trek tricorder, a fictional device that enabled the intrepid crew of the Starship Enterprise to scan an alien planet for signs of life. A recent paper by Nousias and colleagues shows how the instructions of life, contained in DNA , can be detected and analysed in greater detail than ever before from air samples. While environmental DNA has been collected before from water, soil, sand and even air, the team combined air samples with deep sequencing methods that recover much more detailed information on the genetic code of animals, plants, humans and microbes in the environment. This paper has a fascinating Irish connection. Some of the tiny air pumps used to collect samples were located at the zoology building in Trinity College Dublin , the Boyne estuary in Meath and Croghan mountain in Wicklow. READ MORE These samples were contrasted with air samples from Florida coastal and forest locations. Notable species detections in Dublin city centre included dust mites, high bacterial diversity and a substantial amount of bumblebee DNA – perhaps related to the success of Trinity's recent campuswide actions for pollinators. DNA was also detected from plants that may be largely consumed rather than grown in the area, including peanuts, cannabis, opium poppy and the fungus psilocybe – 'magic mushrooms'. [ What do changing rainfall patterns mean for the world's nourishing grasslands? Opens in new window ] Organisms in the environment, including humans, shed DNA into the air through the flaking of skin, production of pollen or saliva and all manner of other materials that are produced as they go about their daily lives. The materials we use and consume also shed DNA. The air is therefore a veritable genetic soup which can be sampled and the DNA sequenced. Modern genetic sequencing called 'shotgun sequencing' enables sequences of DNA to be produced without an initial template, so genetic surprises may be found by comparing the sequences with databases of known species. Methods such as 'genetic barcoding' require that you fish in the genetic soup with a specific set of organisms in mind, and your detections are therefore limited by what you are looking for. 'Shotgun sequencing' also enables you to quantify how much DNA of a particular genetic sequence is in the air sample, which means you can compare sites for the relative abundance of a particular animal, plant or microbe. Of course human DNA is also detectable. An astonishing level of detail on the genetics of human populations can be retrieved from sampling the air alone. DNA from Dublin was characteristic of a diverse international city, whereas there were much fewer genetic types in the rural samples. While individual humans were not identified in this study, the technology now undoubtedly exists to enable individual human genomes to be analysed and identified from non-invasive samples, such as the air you have recently walked through. As with many technological leaps there are risks and opportunities for the deployment of deep sequenced environmental DNA analysis from air samples. Rapid biodiversity assessment is urgently needed to identify, monitor and manage the health of our environment. Difficult to study and detect species such as nocturnal bats and moths, low-density predators and microscopic species can be sampled using these methods. Environmental monitoring for detection of harmful pathogens is possible, with the potential for early-warning signals of disease outbreaks. In one week of sampling in Dublin city, 221 species with disease potential for humans were detected. Air can be scanned for the presence of allergens such as peanuts or for illegal narcotics. It will also be possible to deploy this technology for harmful purposes, including military use, monitoring and targeting of particular human populations or individuals and the illicit sampling of natural resources in the search for new medicinal drugs. There are profound ethical consequences of large-scale genomic analysis of human populations and individuals that need to be urgently addressed and regulated. While the lure of the tricorder is strong, there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that the methods are robust and representative of the abundance and presence of particular species in the sample area. International and national-level policy and regulation needs to be developed to ensure that the benefits of rapid biodiversity assessment can be achieved with guardrails in place to prevent potentially damaging uses. Yvonne Buckley is co-director of the Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water and professor of zoology at Trinity College Dublin
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Researchers trace drugs and diseases from DNA drifting through city air
DNA is in the air, and scientists are finally learning how to read it. In Dublin — a city known for its cozy pubs, flowing Guinness, and music that spills into cobbled streets — researchers have discovered something far less visible drifting through the air: traces of cannabis, poppy, and even psychedelic mushrooms. Not the plants themselves, but their DNA. A groundbreaking study by scientists at the University of Florida reveals that environmental DNA, or eDNA, vacuumed straight from the air, can offer stunning insights into the world around us. These range from identifying endangered wildlife and tracking human pathogens to detecting allergens and illicit drugs. 'The level of information that's available in environmental DNA is such that we're only starting to consider what the potential applications can be, from humans, to wildlife to other species that have implications for human health,' said David Duffy, Ph.D., lead author of the study and professor of wildlife disease genomics. Originally designed to study sea turtles, the technique developed by Duffy and his team has since transformed into a powerful tool for decoding the biological fingerprints of nearly any environment, including air, oceans, or forests. And all it takes is an air filter and a day in the lab to detect signs of nearly every living thing that's grown, passed through, or shed cells nearby. 'When we started, it seemed like it would be hard to get intact large fragments of DNA from the air. But that's not the case. We're actually finding a lot of informative DNA,' Duffy said in a release. 'That means you can study species without directly having to disturb them, without ever having to see them. It opens up huge possibilities to study all the species in an area simultaneously, from microbes and viruses all the way up to vertebrates like bobcats and humans, and everything in between.' In Dublin, researchers found DNA signatures from hundreds of sources, including human pathogens, bacteria, and allergens like peanut residue and pollen. In another striking demonstration of eDNA's potential, the researchers were able to trace the origins of bobcats and spiders by analyzing DNA captured from the air in a Florida forest. This powerful analysis also came with remarkable speed and efficiency. The team showed that a single researcher could process DNA from every species in a given area in just a day, using compact, low-cost equipment and cloud-based software. When trying to save and conserve wildlife, knowing where an animal originates from can be as important as knowing where it currently is. 'It seems like science fiction, but it's becoming science fact,' Duffy said. 'The technology is finally matching the scale of environmental problems.' The researchers say the implications of the study are vast. The method could help track disease outbreaks, identify endangered species, and even detect drug activity, all silently captured by the breeze. However, the same tools can also reveal sensitive human genetic information. The researchers have called for ethical guidelines to keep pace with the fast-moving science of study has been published in Nature, Ecology and Evolution.
ABC News
30-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
DNA in waterways helps SCU researchers map spread of pest and endangered species
A project to map the diversity of life in NSW waterways has found pests, including cane toads, may be more widespread than previously thought. Researchers from Southern Cross University (SCU) collected water samples from 234 locations across 33 estuaries, covering 1,000 kilometres of coastline. They extracted environmental DNA to identify the "living beings" inhabiting the waterways and created unique biodiversity mapping for each one. Lead researcher Maarten De Brauwer said the mapping could help control invasive species and protect endangered ones. He said it revealed cane toads were living further south than previously thought. "For the first survey we did in winter, we found them in the Sandon River," Dr De Brauwer said. "Before that, the buffer zone was north of Yamba. Dr De Brauwer said another surprising find was water buffalo DNA in the Richmond River. "That was a bizarre one — a very strange occurrence," he said. Water buffalo are not usually found in the Northern Rivers region, so the scientists initially thought there had been a sample contamination or a mistake. "My colleague Kait [Harris] and I did a lot of sleuthing and we found out that a farmer there had used water buffalo to train draught horses, apparently," Dr De Brauwer said. "I didn't know this was a thing. "It was quite amazing as they were quite a distance away from the site." Dr De Brauwer said eDNA surveys were a relatively new way to detect what lives in the environment. "Environmental DNA is a term that refers to traces of DNA of any living being," he said. "It can be casuarina trees, it can be rainbow lorikeets, it can be fish, it can be bacteria, or it can be COVID. Dr De Brauwer said samples were collected in summer and winter and filtered for discarded genetic DNA, such as scales, faeces, fur or skin. The DNA was then linked to animal or plant life and added to a digital map. "We can detect threatened species as well," he said. "For example, we found seahorses in quite a few estuaries. One of them was the white seahorse, which is endangered. "So it can be a way of detecting threatened species and then knowing what areas to protect because endangered species are present." The team detected 25 threatened species, from soft corals to fur seals and black cod. In the Sandon River, east of Grafton, they found the DNA of a threatened bird — the varied sittella. In the Richmond River, they found plants that did not yet have a common name. Dr De Brauwer said the survey identified more than 10,000 species across New South Wales, and could be used to monitor changes after natural disasters. "We can track how they recover and, ideally, what promotes recovery," he said. "But … we are just at the start of discovering what we have in the estuaries."
