Aisling Irwin in Nature:
Ryan Kelly is in awe of what floats invisibly in the air.
“It is completely mind-blowing,” says Kelly, who studies environmental DNA (eDNA) at the University of Washington in Seattle. “We are absolutely surrounded by information in the form of DNA and RNA, at all times.”
Scientists have long pulled DNA from water and soil, but they have only just started to see the air as a source of genetic information. Over the past decade or so, researchers have been learning how to measure airborne DNA, study its abundance and use it to put together a picture of an ecosystem’s inhabitants and health. Airborne DNA is being used to monitor individual species, and being trialled as a way to detect invasive species or attacks with biological weapons. It is also being tested as a way to judge the success of conservation efforts.
More here.
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