>In a first-of-its-kind project, researchers are tapping into the power of citizen science to collect DNA samples from hundreds of lakes worldwide. Not only will the resulting cache of environmental DNA (eDNA) be the largest ever gathered from an aquatic setting in a single day — it could yield a fuller picture of the state of biodiversity around the globe and improve scientists’ understanding of how species move about over time.
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same thing is happening using *ancient* core samples.
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“a million years ago”, the atmosphere was a lot like it is now…. maybe they can find DNA that could help modern plants tolerate extreme weather better.
computers are finally fast enough to sort through it in a reasonable amount of time
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https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00520-y
>In a first-of-its-kind project, researchers are tapping into the power of citizen science to collect DNA samples from hundreds of lakes worldwide. Not only will the resulting cache of environmental DNA (eDNA) be the largest ever gathered from an aquatic setting in a single day — it could yield a fuller picture of the state of biodiversity around the globe and improve scientists’ understanding of how species move about over time.
​
same thing is happening using *ancient* core samples.
​
“a million years ago”, the atmosphere was a lot like it is now…. maybe they can find DNA that could help modern plants tolerate extreme weather better.
computers are finally fast enough to sort through it in a reasonable amount of time
and robots do the sampling and analysis.
they got all the DNA from all the dirt.
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Hunt for the Oldest DNA | Full Documentary | NOVA | PBS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2ppreiB1PQ
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“a DNA Revoultion”