Environmental samples of human DNA were found nearly everywhere, save for isolated islands and remote mountaintops where people have never visited...
Scientists found human DNA in their turtle samples, raising the question of where else people might have coughed, spit, shed and flushed genetic samples in the environment.
The researchers also traveled to a remote island never visited by people, and found it free of human DNA -- at least until they showed up. They were able to retrieve DNA from the footprints that volunteers left in the sand, and these samples were good enough to allow some genetic sequencing. But because humans can't help but leave DNA samples in their wake, scientists and regulators will need to grapple with the ethical dilemmas inherent in the widespread availability of precious human genetic information.
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