The post DNA sucked into air filters can reveal what plants and animals are nearby appeared first on News@91亚色.

• Researchers say air quality monitoring networks could enable biodiversity monitoring on an unprecedented scale 
• The findings could be a gamechanger for global efforts to protect and promote biodiversity 
• They found eDNA evidence for more than 180 plants and animals in just two locations 

TORONTO, June 5, 2023 鈥� An international team of researchers has discovered that thousands of ambient air quality monitoring stations around the world are unwittingly recording more than just atmospheric pollutants and dust: they are also likely collecting biodiversity data in the form of environmental DNA (eDNA). Until now it was thought that the infrastructure for monitoring biodiversity and national and global scales does not exist.

鈥淥ne of the single biggest issues facing the planet today is the accelerating loss of biodiversity,鈥� says 91亚色 Assistant Professor Elizabeth Clare of Toronto, an expert in airborne eDNA and corresponding author of the paper published today in Current Biology. 鈥淭his could be a treasure trove of biodiversity data. What we found by analyzing filters from these monitoring stations is astonishing. In just two locations, we found eDNA evidence for more than 180 different plants and animals.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

鈥淭he potential of this cannot be overstated. It could be an absolute gamechanger for tracking and monitoring biodiversity,鈥� says Dr of Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom and first author of the paper. 鈥淎lmost every country has some kind of air pollution monitoring system or network, either government owned or private, and in many cases both. This could solve a global problem of how to measure biodiversity at a massive scale.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Until now, no one had considered that these air quality monitoring stations could be collecting and storing eDNA data on birds, bees, ticks, fungi, insects, plants and mammals across the globe as a byproduct of their regular function. But it is exactly what鈥檚 needed to monitor biodiversity at a scale that鈥檚 never been possible before. 

According to the World Wildlife Fund鈥檚 Living Planet Report, there has been a 69 per cent decline in wildlife populations since 1970. These air quality stations could be exactly what is needed to not only track biodiversity across the planet, but also to potentially tap into the decades of historic eDNA biodiversity data on filters squirrelled away for years. 

Governments, scientists and environmental agencies around the world have called for large-scale, standard methods of tracking biodiversity in real time 鈥� but it has been an impossible task 鈥� with no standardized approach and no deployed infrastructure proposed, until now.  

The discovery that these air monitoring stations could be collecting eDNA is even more surprising because they may have been quietly doing this all along.  

It wasn鈥檛 until researchers, including Clare and Littlefair, proved it鈥檚 possible to determine which species are present using eDNA sampled from air, that scientists at the UK鈥檚 (NPL), who operate the national air quality sampling grids, realized the potential of what they already had. Dr James Allerton and Dr at NPL contacted Littlefair and Clare wondering if the national air quality monitoring networks in the UK was collecting eDNA during normal operation. Together, the unlikely new collaborators have their first answer: a resounding yes. 

鈥淲e were routinely collecting particulate matter looking to measure pollutants in air but when we saw the work of Clare and Littlefair, we realized maybe we were sitting on something much more valuable,鈥� says Allerton. 

The team set up a test at an air quality station in London outside a large urban park, collecting samples for an hour, a day and a week, and compared them to eight-month-old samples from a public station in Scotland. 

At Queen Mary University of London, Littlefair handled the samples, while Clare and grad student Nina Garrett analyzed the data at 91亚色.  

鈥淲e were surprised by the diversity of life we were able to survey with one approach, almost unheard in this field of science. In these two locations, we simultaneously detected the eDNA of 34 bird and 24 mammal species, a wide variety of insects, crops, pathogenic fungus, lovely wildflowers, ornamental garden plants and grasses,鈥� says Clare of the Faculty of Science.  

鈥淲e found species of interest, such as hedgehogs, along with badgers, deer, dormice, little owls, smooth newts, songbirds and 80 different kinds of woodland trees and plants 鈥� oak, linden, ash, pine 鈥� it was all there collected on these tiny filters. It鈥檚 unbelievably exciting.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

It represents a mechanism to measure biodiversity on land in a standardized repeatable way across entire countries continually every day, every week at thousands of locations.  

鈥淭he beauty of the idea is we are making use of something that already exists,鈥� says Brown, who operates the network at NPL. 鈥淚f networks of air samplers around the world are all collecting similar material 鈥� just as a part of their regular functioning 鈥� it鈥檚 an incredible resource.鈥�&苍产蝉辫; 

The team is now trying to preserve as many samples as possible with eDNA in mind. 鈥淲e do not yet know the true value of these samples, but as they are collected, they could provide an unprecedented view of our natural world. The scale of repeated samples could give us the elusive biodiversity time series data and the ability to measure terrestrial species dynamics in a high-resolution form never considered for biodiversity monitoring before,鈥� says Clare.  

As Littlefair says: 鈥淚t will require a global effort to collect and evaluate these samples, but this is an extraordinary opportunity to take advantage of a pre-existing, global infrastructure that has been collecting standardized eDNA data for decades and until now, we simply haven鈥檛 realized the resource existed.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

The paper, , will be published on June 5 in the journal Current Biology. 

Links for videos of the researchers explaining the importance of their findings are available below. Downloadable versions, additional b-roll footage and a version without subtitles is available, upon request.

Shorter version of above video 鈥�

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For more information on this release, to receive a copy of the paper or to speak with the researchers, contact:

Sandra McLean at 91亚色 Media Relations, sandramc@yorku.ca

Dimitra Nikolakopoulou at Queen Mary University of London, d.nikolakopoulou@qmul.ac.uk

About 91亚色, Toronto, Canada

91亚色 a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. 91亚色's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91亚色鈥檚 campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future. 

At Queen Mary University of London, we believe that a diversity of ideas helps us achieve the previously unthinkable. Throughout our history, we鈥檝e fostered social justice and improved lives through academic excellence 鈥� and we continue to live and breathe this spirit today, not because it鈥檚 simply 鈥榯he right thing to do鈥� but for what it helps us achieve and the intellectual brilliance it delivers.鈥� 

A member of the prestigious Russell Group, Queen Mary is a research-intensive university that connects minds worldwide.鈥疻e work across the humanities and social sciences, medicine and dentistry, and science and engineering, with inspirational teaching directly informed by our world-leading research.鈥� 

Our distinctive history stretching back to 1785 is built on four historic institutions (the London Hospital Medical College, St Bartholomew鈥檚 Medical College, Westfield College and Queen Mary College) with a shared vision to provide hope and opportunity for the less privileged or otherwise under-represented.鈥疶oday, we remain true to that belief in opening the doors of opportunity for anyone with the potential to succeed and helping to build a future we can all be proud of.鈥� 

Visit to find out more. 

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Two independent research groups detect presence of animals by collecting DNA from air

TORONTO, DENMARK, LONDON, Jan. 6, 2022 鈥� Two new studies published today in the journal Current Biology show that environmental DNA (eDNA) collected from air can be used to detect a wide range of animal species and offers a novel, non-invasive approach to monitoring biodiversity.

The findings were made by two independent groups of researchers, one based in Denmark, the other based in the United Kingdom and Canada. Both research groups set out to test whether airborne eDNA could be used to detect terrestrial animal species. To do this, the research teams collected air samples from two European zoos, Hamerton Zoo Park, UK, and Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark.

The UK study was led by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Clare from 91亚色, Canada, then senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, while the Danish study was led by Associate Professor from the Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen.

Each team used a different method of filtering airborne eDNA, but both succeeded in detecting the presence of numerous animal species within and beyond the confines of the two zoos.

Bohmann鈥檚 team collected air samples using three different air sampling devices; one commercial water-based vacuum and two blower fans with filters attached 鈥� the smallest one of these two was the size of a golf ball. They collected air samples in three locations: the okapi stable, the Rainforest House and outside between the outdoor enclosures.

Clare鈥檚 team used sensitive filters attached to vacuum pumps to collect more than 70 air samples from different locations around the zoo, both inside animal sleeping areas and outside in the general zoo environment.

The results from both studies exceeded their expectations.

鈥淲hen we analyzed the collected samples, we were able to identify DNA from 25 different species of animals, such as tigers, lemurs and dingoes, 17 of which were known zoo species. We were even able to collect eDNA from animals that were hundreds of metres away from where we were testing without a significant drop in the concentration, and even from outside sealed buildings. The animals were inside, but their DNA was escaping,鈥� says Clare.

鈥淲e were astonished when we saw the results,鈥� says Bohmann. 鈥淚n just 40 samples, we detected 49 species spanning mammal, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish. In the Rainforest House we even detected the guppies in the pond, the two-toed sloth and the boa. When sampling air in just one outdoor site, we detected many of the animals with access to an outdoor enclosure in that part of the zoo, for example kea, ostrich and rhino.鈥�

Many of the detected species were kept at the zoos, but remarkably both teams also detected species from areas surrounding the zoo. The Eurasian hedgehog, endangered in the UK, was detected from outside of Hamerton Zoo, UK, while the water vole and red squirrel were detected around the Copenhagen Zoo. Both teams also picked up the presence of food items for zoo animals, such as chicken, cow, horse and fish. The wide range of detected species shows the potential that airborne eDNA could be used to detect and monitor terrestrial animal species in the wild. This would ultimately support global conservation efforts.

鈥淭he non-invasive nature of this approach makes it particularly valuable for observing vulnerable or endangered species as well as those in hard-to-reach environments, such as caves and burrows They do not have to be visible for us to know they are in the area if we can pick up traces of their DNA, literally out of thin air,鈥� says Clare. 鈥淎ir sampling could revolutionise terrestrial biomonitoring and provide new opportunities to track the composition of animal communities as well as detect invasion of non-native species.鈥�

Living organisms shed DNA into their surrounding environments as they interact with them, and in recent years, eDNA has become an important tool for species detection in a wide range of habitats. For instance, eDNA analysis of water samples is routinely used to map species in aquatic environments. However, while air surrounds everything on land, it is only now that airborne eDNA has been explored for animal monitoring.

One of the main things when demonstrating a novel eDNA sample type is to ensure that results are reliable as eDNA analyses are very sensitive and prone to contamination.

鈥淎ir is a challenging substrate to work with as air surrounds everything, which means that contamination risk is high. We wanted to ensure that the species we detected were from the zoo and not for example from the lab. To ensure that we did not have any contaminant DNA floating in the air in the lab, we sampled air from within the lab and sequenced that too,鈥� says Dr. Christina Lynggaard, who is part of the Danish team.

For these early studies, being able to replicate the work is key. The teams had no knowledge of each other鈥檚 work until the studies were completed but were thrilled by the parallel nature of the experiments. Clare and Bohmann agree that having two research teams independently demonstrate that airborne eDNA can be used to monitor a range of animal species greatly enhances the strength of their work and clearly show the potential of the technique.

鈥淲e did not think that vacuuming animal DNA from air would work,鈥� Bohmann adds, 鈥淭his was high risk, high reward science with the potential to push the boundaries of vertebrate biomonitoring. Clearly the sky is not the limit.鈥�

The use of airborne eDNA sampling in natural environments will need further research to unlock its full potential, but both research teams believe it could transform the way researchers study and monitor animal biodiversity.

Both research papers, Measuring biodiversity from DNA in the air, led by Clare, and Airborne environmental DNA for terrestrial vertebrate community monitoring, led by Lynggaard, were published today in the journal Current Biology.

Notes to editors

Research publications:

• 鈥楳easuring biodiversity from DNA in the air鈥� Elizabeth L. Clare, Chloe K. Economou, Frances J. Bennett, Caitlin E. Dyer, Katherine Adams, Benjamin McRobie, Rosie Drinkwater, Joanne E. Littlefair Current Biology (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.064
• 鈥楢irborne environmental DNA for terrestrial vertebrate community monitoring鈥� Christina Lynggaard, Mads Frost Bertelsen, Casper V. Jensen, Matthew S. Johnson, Tobias Guldberg Fr酶slev, Morten Tange Olsen and Kristine Bohmann Current Biology (2021). DOI:1016/j.cub.2021.12.014

For more information or a copy of the article contact:

Sandra McLean, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416-272-6317, sandramc@yorku.ca

Elizabeth Clare, Assistant Professor, 91亚色, eclare@yorku.ca

Sophie McLachlan, Faculty Communications Manager (Science & Engineering), Queen Mary University of London, sophie.mclachlan@qmul.ac.uk

Mathias Traczyk, Communications Consultant, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, +45 9356 5835, mathias.traczyk@sund.ku.dk

About 91亚色

91亚色 is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. 91亚色's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91亚色鈥檚 campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

About University of Copenhagen

Driven by intellectual creativity and critical thinking since 1479, researchers and students at the University of Copenhagen have expanded horizons and contributed to moving the world forward. With its 5,000 researchers and 37,500 students, the University boasts an international research and study environment and is highly ranked on the leading ranking lists of the world's best universities. The University offers researchers and students the opportunity to develop their talent and launches ambitious interdisciplinary initiatives to support its strong academic communities. Through research-based teaching 鈥� and by involving them in research 鈥� students are equipped to address society's challenges and needs. The University of Copenhagen is working towards becoming one of the world鈥檚 greenest campus areas, leaving as little environmental and climate footprint as possible. The University facilitates cross-organisation collaboration, liaises with the business community and helps students find relevant programmes and projects in the field of sustainability. The University also focuses on gender equality and sees diversity as a strength.

About Queen Mary University of London

At Queen Mary University of London, we believe that a diversity of ideas helps us achieve the previously unthinkable. Throughout our history, we鈥檝e fostered social justice and improved lives through academic excellence. And we continue to live and breathe this spirit today, not because it鈥檚 simply 鈥榯he right thing to do鈥� but for what it helps us achieve and the intellectual brilliance it delivers. Our reformer heritage informs our conviction that great ideas can and should come from anywhere. It鈥檚 an approach that has brought results across the globe, from the communities of east London to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. We continue to embrace diversity of thought and opinion in everything we do, in the belief that when views collide, disciplines interact, and perspectives intersect, truly original thought takes form.

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