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.
Scientists have taken an unprecedented look at marine fish species living in the world's oceans by studying traces of genetic material in seawater. One of the most surprising results was discovering species in places where ...
The global crisis of diminishing biological diversity is challenging our current ability to monitor changes in ecosystems.
Ecology
Nov 1, 2025
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437
A new University of Kentucky study used environmental DNA (eDNA) to search 90 sites across 73 rivers for Eastern hellbenders—large, secretive salamanders nicknamed "snot otters" and "lasagna lizards" for their mucus secretions ...
Ecology
Oct 31, 2025
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30
Metagenomics is the study of all organisms present in a particular environment, such as soil, water, or the human body. A key part of metagenomic analysis is understanding what species are present (classification), how much ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 27, 2025
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18
Recent advances in long-read sequencing techniques have produced large amounts of high-quality rRNA marker gene data about eukaryotic organisms, but many of these taxa have remained unknown at the highest taxonomic levels: ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Oct 20, 2025
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21
New environmental DNA (eDNA) tools can accurately and inexpensively quantify kelp-derived biomass in sediments below commercial kelp farms, according to research published in PLOS One.
Ecology
Sep 18, 2025
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17
Bacteria have long been a key source of lifesaving antibiotics, but most species cannot be grown in the lab—leaving their therapeutic potential untapped even as multidrug resistance becomes an increasingly urgent threat.
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 14, 2025
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218
Two forgotten bottles in a basement in Frederiksberg containing bacterial cultures from the 1890s have provided researchers at the University of Copenhagen with unique insight into Denmark's butter production history. Using ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 12, 2025
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77
Traces of DNA in the environment can tell us how species' ranges are changing as a result of increasing sea temperatures.
Ecology
Sep 11, 2025
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79
An international team led by researchers at the Center for Paleogenetics, has uncovered microbial DNA preserved in woolly and steppe mammoth remains dating back more than one million years. The analyses reveal some of the ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 2, 2025
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342
