Jenny Whilde and Alice Farrell write:
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 new research.
[…]
We also collected air samples from a room in our wildlife veterinary hospital in Florida. People who were present in the room gave us permission to take samples from the air. We recovered DNA matching the people, the animal patient and common animal viruses present at the time of collection.
Surprisingly, the human eDNA found in the local environment was intact enough for us to identify mutations associated with disease and to determine the genetic ancestry of people who live in the area.
Read more at The Conversation.
While the researchers are oriented to data collection and usage in research, this blog’s readers will understandably already be thinking of government, law enforcement, and surveillance issues, such as if there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in public, does that also apply to shedded eDNA? Can law enforcement use air samples from a public place to try to prove a suspect was there? Would any legal process or protections be in place?