Environmental DNA, also known as eDNA, is genetic material shed from animals and plants that scientists can use to tell what kinds of organisms are living in an environment. However, scientists ...

The ability to extract trace bits of DNA from soil, water, and even air is revolutionizing science. But it's not foolproof. In the late 1980s, at a federal research facility in Pensacola, Florida, ...

Maarten De Brauwer receives funding from the CSIRO and the National Geographic Society. He is a board member at the Southern eDNA Society. Oliver Berry receives funding from the CSIRO, the Australian ...

A recent study has found that the electricity produced by an electric eel’s discharge is strong enough to cause the transfer of genetic material from the environment into the cells of nearby animals.

Human environmental DNA is ubiquitous in air, soil and water samples and can be traced to individuals, demonstrating new scientific possibilities but raising ethical concerns around consent with eDNA ...

Outside her cabin in northern Belize, Elizabeth Clare, a biodiversity scientist at York University, walks along a path. Everywhere she looks, it's teeming with life. "There's hibiscus flowers over ...

Just a few swabs from a handful of leaves can say a lot about what animals are roaming in the area. Two dozen leaf swabs from plants in Uganda’s Kibale National Park revealed a stunningly accurate ...

Human DNA can be sequenced from small amounts of water, sand and air in the environment to potentially extract identifiable information like genetic lineage, gender, and health risks, according to our ...

It sounds like science fiction, but researchers are getting better and better at retrieving tiny traces of human genetic material called environmental DNA — or eDNA — that we leave floating in the air ...

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Spiders spin silken ...