Scientists have been able to collect and analyze genetic data from human DNA from footprints on a beach, air breathed in a busy room and ocean water. This has raised ethical questions about consent and privacy when it comes to our biological information.
ATLANTA — Footprints left on a beach. Air breathed in a busy room. Ocean water.
They could also match genetic information to individual participants who had volunteered to have their DNA recovered as part of the research that published in the scientific journal Nature Ecology & Evolution on Monday. Human DNA that has seeped into the environment through our spit, skin, sweat and blood could be used to help find missing persons, aid in forensic investigations to solve crimes, locate sites of archaeological importance, and for health monitoring through DNA found in waste water, the study noted.
"It is important to preserve human autonomy, dignity and the right to self-determination over personal data. This is difficult if you can't ask those whose DNA may be collected in the environment , because there's probably no way to avoid losing DNA to the environment via skin, hair, and breath," Wienroth, who was not involved in the research, said via email.
In addition to the samples from subtropical Florida, Duffy tested water from the Avoca River in County Wicklow in temperate Ireland, finding human DNA as it flowed through the town of Arklow — although not in the river's uppermost reaches where there was no human habitation.
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