This article was originally featured on Undark.
On a sunny fall morning, biologist Andy Hubbard set up a makeshift lab next to small pools at a national park’s outcropping of ancient granite rocks. Immersed in the stillness of a cactus forest, he and his team filled tiny bags with murky water and meticulously strained it through miniscule filters.
Those filters would later be sent to a laboratory to test for genetic material shed by animals in the water. By collecting environmental DNA, or eDNA, Hubbard and three other members of a National Park Service team hoped to detect signs of native critters and the invasive bullfrogs that have proved devastating for their existence.
“This technology will end up being critical because it’s a more efficient way to detect invasive species, as well as rare species,” said Hubbard, program manager for the National Park Service Sonoran Desert Network in Tucson, Arizona.
Around the world, scientists like Hubbard are increasingly turning to eDNA to detect species from discarded bits of skin, scales, and mucus in water, soil, and air. In the field of conservation research, the emerging technology is opening new frontiers to monitor endangered species, track invasive ones, and sample general biodiversity. It’s also cheaper. And while the field still faces limitations around accuracy and precision, scientists say eDNA is fast becoming a game-changer for wildlife conservation efforts.
“Environmental DNA has become more and more important as we are putting increased emphasis on understanding biodiversity and importantly, biodiversity loss,” said Adam Sepulveda, a research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center in Bozeman, Montana.
In such a rapidly growing field, technological innovation has been key to advancing eDNA methodologies, especially as scientists attempt to move past constraints in the field: While some researchers continue to use…
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