DNA from thin air: a new way to detect rare wildlife

I saw this news article from The Guardian today and thought about about the possibility of using the technique to detect land based cryptids.
This could be a great way to try and finally prove or disprove the existence of something like Sasquatch.

From the article.

DNA is in the air – literally. It is wafted around by all the Earth’s creatures, and now scientists have found a way to detect these invisible traces of genetic material so they can identify the animals that released them.

The discovery – made independently by British and Danish research groups earlier this year – opens up a powerful way to pinpoint the presence of rare wildlife in deserts, rainforests and other hostile environments.

“Trapping their DNA from the air is much less invasive, and much more flexible. You could detect the presence of creatures in caves without disturbing them, for example.”

The idea of being able to detect DNA in the air in hostile environments could finally help confirm if Bigfoot is real instead of relying on casts, blurry videos, and photos. To be able to find and study possible DNA could be a game changer in the field of unknown animals. Discovering the DNA of an unknown creature would help to validate Bigfoot/Sasquatch research or finally but it to bed.

What do my fellow ATS members think of this new technique, do you guys think this could help in the search for cryptids?

Link to the story

Pretty interesting idea/concept.

Although this might be great for the animals we already have on file to compare against... how would this work with Cryptids that there (supposedly) is no DNA to base against.

So again... I think this is a great technology and I like the idea of the 'not disturbing' the creature' aspects of it. But for finding Yowie/Sasquatch/BigFoot, well I just don't see it.

Here's my 'way-out-there' form of conjecture. If the equipment anc software were made available to the public and you could 'input' (add) to the known library something you believe includes the DNA of such a hominid, then I'd change my mind.

But as it is right now, don't see how it'll help us find Dogman, BigFoot or Loch Ness.

a reply to: JohnnyAnonymous

I had the same thought. sounds great, but if we don't know what "bigfoot" DNA looks like, it's hard to compare unknown DNA with anything and have answers. Still a cool new idea and could be useful in the future.

a reply to: Kurokage

Don't people already do this in water?

I know I've seen some Bigfoot documentary/show where they were testing water in creeks, and claimed they could use that to determine whether or not Bigfoot had been drinking there

To be clear, I'm not saying I believe they could, but they seemed to believe they could.

a reply to: JohnnyAnonymous

But as it is right now, don't see how it'll help us find Dogman, BigFoot or Loch Ness.

I don't think this would work in/on water so things like Nessie are out but for land based cryptids, being able to find unknown DNA would be a good start in proving "something" is out there other than mis-identified bears and such, and if Bigfoot is a hominid like most believe, it's DNA shouldn't be completely unrecognizable.

But as it is right now, don't see how it'll help us...

I think just being able to show and prove that something previously unknown is out there would go a long way in adding credibility to the field.

a reply to: BrokenCircles

It must be a similar or better/newer technique to able to pick up minute traces of DNA in the air.

a reply to: Kurokage


Pretty cool...

Here's hoping they can deploy effectively it in the PNW and in other hot spots.

Among other factors, they would have to be stealthy, seems that primates notice changes in their surroundings like with camera traps.

I'd like to see this deployed in those areas people allege are "Sasquatch habitat" as most people insist they are notoriously cautious. This could confirm they are in an area, but if they do actually exist their population is likely very small. Hot spots in th PNW, the big thicket in Texas, hell Fouke Arkansas would be my first stop.

Makes me wonder did it detect human DNA in the samples from the zoo?

a reply to: Kurokage

Oh, I'm sure the testing methods have improved quite a bit. What I was referring to wasn't anything new. I just meant it was a similar theory/idea.





This thought popped in my head, so I might as well share it....

I'm assuming this technique won't work in Space, but it might be interesting if it did.

a reply to: network dude

I think most researchers believe that Sasquatch/Bigfoot type creatures are some sort of relative of a hominid species so I would assume that the DNA would be recognizable and not be completely unidentifiable. I know I'm assuming here but we now know that we have at least 3 types of DNA in modern day humans, so could possibly determine the type of unknown creature found.

originally posted by: JohnnyAnonymous
Pretty interesting idea/concept.

Although this might be great for the animals we already have on file to compare against... how would this work with Cryptids that there (supposedly) is no DNA to base against.

So again... I think this is a great technology and I like the idea of the 'not disturbing' the creature' aspects of it. But for finding Yowie/Sasquatch/BigFoot, well I just don't see it.

Here's my 'way-out-there' form of conjecture. If the equipment anc software were made available to the public and you could 'input' (add) to the known library something you believe includes the DNA of such a hominid, then I'd change my mind.

But as it is right now, don't see how it'll help us find Dogman, BigFoot or Loch Ness.

I think the theory goes if you are in the deep woods of the Pacific Northwest and it detects unknown primate DNA, what else could it be?

a reply to: Kurokage

Hmmmm


I wonder if this could have Law Enforcement applications.


Would this tech work in say a house to tie an individual to a location where say a murder happened? If so, this opens up a whole new forensic test for crime scene investigations.

a reply to: Kurokage

I admit to knowing less than nothing about DNA. I know all about hormones, but not DNA.
I'd love to see some way to prove the bigfoot idea to be real, it's been a favorite of mine since I was a kid.

originally posted by: infolurker


I wonder if this could have Law Enforcement applications.


Would this tech work in say a house to tie an individual to a location where say a murder happened? If so, this opens up a whole new forensic test for crime scene investigations.

Or would that make it even less reliable in court....

"I swear I was never in that house. I just drove past it with my windows down. The wind must have blown my DNA in through their screen door."

I heard of another tech that scans for electromagnetic frequency which identifies species of wildlife. Looked on the web for this but can't find it. It was used on a show in the first season of expedition bigfoot..

It detected primate signatures except there are no known primates in the USA. It isn't using DNA but it sure sounds similar in other ways.

a reply to: BrokenCircles

Bring that tech to Loch Ness asap please.

a reply to: Kurokage

The Earth is teeming with life. I'm fairly sure that if they couldn't find a cryptid by setting cameras and physical search, then they will face the same sort of problems identifying cryptid DNA out of the vast amounts of similar DNA from all other species in the vicinity.

Could someone tell me how this is going to work? how can they pull anything out of the severely polluted atmosphere that we are being told to pay to clean up.

a reply to: Kurokage


Ummm…I’m thinking that this could be used by the military…to sniff out the enemy…AKA…little drone DNA sniffer bots…

Or by search and rescue…to cue in on a lost persons whereabouts…or to find people or their remains under rubble from quakes or collapses…

Possibly even to find murder victims…either shallow grave…or out in the open…


All kinds of things come to mind…






YouSir

Any animal will have DNA and even if we don't have bigfoots DNA we have enough animal and human DNA to compare it too.

originally posted by: Kurokage
a reply to: JohnnyAnonymous

But as it is right now, don't see how it'll help us find Dogman, BigFoot or Loch Ness.

I don't think this would work in/on water so things like Nessie are out but for land based cryptids, being able to find unknown DNA would be a good start in proving "something" is out there other than mis-identified bears and such, and if Bigfoot is a hominid like most believe, it's DNA shouldn't be completely unrecognizable.

I think just being able to show and prove that something previously unknown is out there would go a long way in adding credibility to the field.

It's already being used to track invasive species in water. The Everglades is the largest application I'm aware of.

It's easy to get a bunch of unknown/inconclusive results. I would expect that is the norm in doing this kind of sample collection. If one were able to track similar profiles across geographic locations it could help build an area to investigate further. Most of the unknown/inconclusive results are probably disregarded by mainstream science. A retrospective study after it's been deployed for five or ten years could be interesting.