Air Is Full of DNA

(nature.com)

62 points | by howrude 2 days ago

6 comments

  • butvacuum 1 day ago
    buried the lede, imho: we have enough DNA profiles to match their sampling up with.

    I'm always stunned when reminded that a full genome sequencing has gone from Human Genome Project's extreme cost and (edit: glacial) speed to using seqencing as the easy button.

    I hear we've also got machines that'll seqence, fit on a bench, and cost high five/low six figures. They've got issues to work out still though- iirc something about damaged sections causing issues.

    • cmrx64 1 day ago
      four figures these days. fits in your hand. nanopore is a revolution. https://nanoporetech.com/products/sequence/minion

      there’s youtubers that have videos about doing this in a home wetlab. very achievable. some amateur soil biologists using this to try and sample microdiversity as the planet… humanifies.

      • dubi_steinkek 16 hours ago
        Do you have links to these youtubers? Sounds interesting
  • dhruv3006 1 hour ago
    Why is nature suddenly click bait - changing times I guess.
  • shevy-java 1 hour ago
    Don't anyone tell Palantir about this ...
  • baxtr 1 hour ago
    [dead]
  • cmos 1 day ago
    As is the Ocean.
  • tim333 1 day ago
    Cool.

    I think they had to delete all the sequencing data from the Wuhan Institute of Virology so stuff in the air wouldn't show up.

    • shevy-java 1 hour ago
      That was never a convincing argument, IMO. Just as US institutes would claim that China is responsible, by the same token the argument works on any other lab too - yet the media did not present in that way. Ever. That's not accurate reporting; that's an attempt at victim blaming. Next thing someone may do is give a powerpoint presentation about weapons of mass destruction in some far-away country ...
      • popopo73 56 minutes ago

            >Just as US institutes would claim that China is responsible, by the same token the argument works on any other lab too - yet the media did not present in that way. Ever. That's not accurate reporting; that's an attempt at victim blaming.
        
        So your idea of accurate reporting is to apply whataboutisms?