Human Dna Can Be Detected From Footprints Or Breath
Scientists in the US have discovered that DNA samples can be collected from the water a person bathes in, their breath in the air or even their footprints on the beach.
A team of researchers from the University of Florida has found that information about a person’s DNA can be obtained in different ways.
According to research, DNA can now be detected from footprints left on the beach, from the air breathed in a room or from saliva-like waste left while swimming in the ocean.
While collecting environmental DNA samples found in the sand to study endangered sea turtles, scientists concluded that the findings were of very high quality and that the genetic ancestry of the population living in that area could be identified.
Dna Detected From The Air
Within the scope of the research, an examination of air samples taken from a 280-square-meter animal clinic where 6 people worked, showed that the DNA of the staff and animals could be identified and matched.
“All of this personal, ancestral and health-related data is freely available in the environment and it’s just hanging in the air right now,” said David Duffy, Professor of Genome Science in Wildlife Diseases at the University of Florida.
The report also pointed to the danger that the same methods could facilitate malicious activities such as “privacy violations, location tracking, data collection, genetic tracking of individuals or societies”.
