Tracking ancestry, hair samples and crime scenes – that’s likely what you think of when you hear DNA. Probably not fish mucus and kangaroo scat.
That’s environmental DNA – or eDNA – and ecologists can now track it to find out what animals and organisms have been where.
But human eDNA could be collected just as easily, and some experts are concerned about whether it could be used in nefarious ways.
Dr Sophie Calabretto talks to Cosmos Magazine science journalist Ellen Phiddian about the good and the bad uses of environmental DNA.
The Science Briefing is a LiSTNR podcast
Originally published by Cosmos as You’re shedding your DNA everywhere you go
Ellen Phiddian
Ellen Phiddian is a science journalist at Cosmos. She has a BSc (Honours) in chemistry and science communication, and an MSc in science communication, both from the Australian National University.
Sophie Calabretto
Dr Sophie Calabretto is a mathematician specialising in fluid mechanics. She is Honorary Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University and Honorary Associate Professor, at the ACE Research Group, University of Leicester.
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