Environmental DNA (eDNA) refers to genetic material obtained directly from environmental samples such as water, soil, air, or sediments, without isolating target organisms. It consists of extracellular DNA and cellular fragments shed through excretion, secretion, reproduction, or decomposition. eDNA-based methods typically involve sample collection, DNA extraction, amplification of taxonomically informative genetic markers (e.g., mitochondrial or ribosomal loci), and high-throughput sequencing or qPCR for detection and quantification. This topic encompasses methodological optimization, degradation kinetics, transport dynamics, contamination control, and bioinformatic pipelines, and is central to non-invasive biodiversity assessment, community composition profiling, invasive species surveillance, and ecological monitoring across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Municipalities and federal agencies monitor U.S. waters for microcystins, a toxin produced by harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, but a University of Michigan study shows that the blooms produce a greater range of potentially ...
Environment
May 27, 2026
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Researchers using cutting-edge environmental DNA (eDNA) technology have uncovered far greater biodiversity in eastern Ontario waterways than traditional monitoring methods detected over more than a decade, demonstrating the ...
Ecology
May 25, 2026
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Researchers from the University of Rhode Island are contributing to an international effort to document life on Indonesia's remote tropical seamounts—underwater mountains rising from the ocean floor that can host diverse ...
Ecology
May 22, 2026
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6
Beekeepers and their honeybees can be invaluable participants in environmental surveys, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS One by Jennifer Shelton of the UK Center for Ecology & Hydrology and colleagues.
Plants & Animals
May 20, 2026
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6
DNA is everywhere in the world's oceans—not only packaged inside cells from skin, scales, mucus, feces, and blood, but also floating freely. Sequencing such "environmental DNA" (eDNA) from open water has long been used as ...
Ecology
May 19, 2026
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31
As climate change and human activities continually ramp up, fish are forced to find ways to adapt. As fish move around to find more suitable habitats as ocean conditions shift, regional fish distributions change—which can ...
Ecology
May 14, 2026
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Research led by a University of Bristol Ph.D. student has revealed a host of thriving microscopic algae communities in snow and glaciers across one of the most remote locations on Earth. The study, which appears in ISME Communications ...
Environment
May 11, 2026
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Advances in DNA sequencing have expanded our view of the microbial world, but the inability to cultivate most microbes has been a major constraint. Now, a systematic, predictive framework that combines existing genomic and ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 11, 2026
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32
A single scoop of water from an Irish river has revealed evidence not only of Ireland's only frog species—as expected—but also signs of the dreaded B. dendrobatidis fungus, marking the first time this devastating amphibian ...
Molecular & Computational biology
May 9, 2026
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25
For more than a decade, conservation biologist Steve Boyes searched for "ghost elephants"—nocturnal giants rumored to roam a remote, high-altitude wetland in eastern Angola. When a motion-sensor camera finally captured their ...
Plants & Animals
May 9, 2026
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