MSGID: 1:317/3 646306e2   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Human DNA is everywhere. That's a boon for science -- and an ethical   
   quagmire    
      
     Date:   
         May 15, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Florida   
     Summary:   
         Human environmental DNA is ubiquitous in air, soil and water samples   
         and can be traced to individuals, demonstrating new scientific   
         possibilities but raising ethical concerns around consent with   
         eDNA research.   
      
      
         Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   On the beach. In the ocean. Traveling along riverways. In muggy Florida   
   and chilly Ireland. Even floating through the air.   
      
   We cough, spit, shed and flush our DNA into all of these places and   
   countless more. Signs of human life can be found nearly everywhere,   
   short of isolated islands and remote mountaintops, according to a new   
   University of Florida study.   
      
   That ubiquity is both a scientific boon and an ethical dilemma, say the   
   UF researchers who sequenced this widespread DNA. The DNA was of such   
   high quality that the scientists could identify mutations associated with   
   disease and determine the genetic ancestry of nearby populations. They   
   could even match genetic information to individual participants who had   
   volunteered to have their errant DNA recovered.   
      
   David Duffy, the UF professor of wildlife disease genomics who led the   
   project, says that ethically handled environmental DNA samples could   
   benefit fields from medicine and environmental science to archaeology   
   and criminal forensics. For example, researchers could track cancer   
   mutations from wastewater or spot undiscovered archaeological sites by   
   checking for hidden human DNA. Or detectives could identify suspects   
   from the DNA floating in the air of a crime scene.   
      
   But this level of personal information must be handled extremely   
   carefully.   
      
   Now, scientists and regulators must grapple with the ethical dilemmas   
   inherent in accidentally -- or intentionally -- sweeping up human genetic   
   information, not from blood samples but from a scoop of sand, a vial of   
   water or a person's breath.   
      
   Published May 15 in Nature Ecology and Evolution, the paper by Duffy's   
   group outlines the relative ease of collecting human DNA nearly everywhere   
   they looked.   
      
   "We've been consistently surprised throughout this project at how much   
   human DNA we find and the quality of that DNA," Duffy said. "In most   
   cases the quality is almost equivalent to if you took a sample from   
   a person."  Because of the ability to potentially identify individuals,   
   the researchers say that ethical guardrails are necessary for this kind   
   of research. The study was conducted with approval from the institutional   
   review board of UF, which ensures that ethical guidelines are adhered   
   to during research studies.   
      
   "It's standard in science to make these sequences publicly available. But   
   that also means if you don't screen out human information, anyone can   
   come along and harvest this information," Duffy said. "That raises issues   
   around consent. Do you need to get consent to take those samples? Or   
   institute some controls to remove human information?"  Duffy's team at   
   UF's Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital has   
   successfully used environmental DNA, or eDNA, to study endangered sea   
   turtles and the viral cancers they are susceptible to. They've plucked   
   useful DNA out of turtle tracks in the sand, greatly accelerating their   
   research program.   
      
   The scientists knew that human eDNA would end up in their turtle samples   
   and probably many other places they looked. With modern genetic sequencing   
   technology, it's now straightforward to sequence the DNA of every organism   
   in an environmental sample. The questions were how much human DNA there   
   would be and whether it was intact enough to harbor useful information.   
      
   The team found quality human DNA in the ocean and rivers surrounding   
   the Whitney Lab, both near town and far from human settlement, as well   
   as in sand from isolated beaches. In a test facilitated by the National   
   Park Service, the researchers traveled to part of a remote island never   
   visited by people. It was free of human DNA, as expected. But they were   
   able to retrieve DNA from voluntary participants' footprints in the   
   sand and could sequence parts of their genomes, with permission from   
   the anonymous participants.   
      
   Duffy also tested the technique in his native Ireland. Tracing along a   
   river that winds through town on its way to the ocean, Duffy found human   
   DNA everywhere but the remote mountain stream where the river starts,   
   far from civilization.   
      
   The scientists also collected room air samples from a veterinary   
   hospital. They recovered DNA matching the staff, the animal patient and   
   common animal viruses.   
      
   Now that it's clear human eDNA can be readily sampled, Duffy says it's   
   time for policymakers and scientific communities to take issues around   
   consent and privacy seriously and balance them against the possible   
   benefits of studying this errant DNA.   
      
   "Any time we make a technological advance, there are beneficial things   
   that the technology can be used for and concerning things that the   
   technology can be used for. It's no different here," Duffy said. "These   
   are issues we are trying to raise early so policy makers and society   
   have time to develop regulations."   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Health_&_Medicine   
                   # Human_Biology # Genes # Forensics #   
                   Diseases_and_Conditions   
             o Mind_&_Brain   
                   # Brain-Computer_Interfaces # Memory # Social_Psychology   
                   # K-12_Education   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Environmental_impact_assessment o DNA_repair o Bioethics o   
             Collaboration o PCB o Pollution o Veganism o Epidemiology   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Florida. Note: Content   
   may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Liam Whitmore, Mark McCauley, Jessica A. Farrell, Maximilian R.   
      
         Stammnitz, Samantha A. Koda, Narges Mashkour, Victoria Summers, Todd   
         Osborne, Jenny Whilde, David J. Duffy. Inadvertent human genomic   
         bycatch and intentional capture raise beneficial applications   
         and ethical concerns with environmental DNA. Nature Ecology &   
         Evolution, 2023; DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02056-2   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230515132002.htm   
      
   --- up 1 year, 11 weeks, 10 hours, 50 minutes   
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)   
   SEEN-BY: 15/0 106/201 114/705 123/120 153/7715 218/700 226/30 227/114   
   SEEN-BY: 229/110 112 113 307 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 292/854 298/25   
   SEEN-BY: 305/3 317/3 320/219 396/45   
   PATH: 317/3 229/426