Scientists have revealed a novel means of tracking everything from wildlife to illicit substances using environmental DNA detectable in the air around us.

The findings, outlined in a new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, show that tracking virtually anything using environmental DNA can be achieved as simply as capturing this ever-present genetic material from the air using a vacuum.

The discovery, made by a team led by David Duffy, Ph.D., reveals DNA as a powerful new tool for detecting and tracking living organisms and a range of substances in virtually any environment.

Duffy, a professor of wildlife disease genomics at the University of Florida, led the recent study, saying that the amount of information accessible to scientists through environmental DNA “is such that we’re only starting to consider what the potential applications can be, from humans, to wildlife to other species that have implications for human health.”

From Sea Turtles to Humans and Beyond

Originally developed to study the genetics of Florida’s sea turtles, Duffy and the team at the University of Florida’s Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience say their technique can be used to study every species on Earth using samples obtained from locations like soil and water in virtually any environment.

However, Duffy and the team say that genetic material left behind by organisms also becomes airborne, leaving genetic evidence of any nearby organisms floating in the surrounding environment.

Although Duffy and the team initially thought extracting useful amounts of DNA from the surrounding environment might be challenging, that turned out not to be the case.

“We’re actually finding a lot of informative DNA,” Duffy recently explained, adding that environmental DNA (eDNA) allows researchers an effective new tool for studying species without having to directly disturb them.

“It opens up huge possibilities to study all the species in an area simultaneously,” Duffy said, “from microbes and viruses all the way up to vertebrates like bobcats and humans, and everything in between.”

Detecting Dublin’s Airborne DNA

To illustrate the effectiveness of their new tool, the research team successfully demonstrated its ability to detect signs of hundreds of different human pathogens using Dublin, Ireland, as a proving ground.

From bacteria to viruses, the team’s method detected the presence of hundreds of human pathogens in the Dublin air, showcasing the technology’s ability to track the spread of emerging diseases and the emergence of common allergens in ways that were never thought possible before.

Duffy’s lab also deployed the technology closer to home, revealing the nearby origin of wildlife ranging from elusive bobcats to various indigenous Florida spider species, all using little more than an air filter to collect the samples.

This capability is significant, as it provides a novel means of tracing the origins of some of nature’s most elusive animals without disturbing them or significantly impacting their environment. Duffy and the team’s eDNA capabilities also allow the collection of genetic information from the environment to be obtained with unprecedented speed and relative ease.

Additionally, the team’s study reveals that the DNA of every species in each environment could be processed within a day by a single researcher using readily accessible equipment and cloud-based software. Such applications extend the use of eDNA for environmental studies to a much larger number of scientists worldwide.

Duffy says the technology has demonstrated the ability to meet the demands of current environmental problems in ways that were once considered impossible.

“It seems like science fiction,” Duffy says, “but it’s becoming science fact.”

Duffy and his colleagues’ paper, “Shotgun sequencing of airborne eDNA achieves rapid assessment of whole biomes, population genetics and genomic variation,” appeared in Nature Ecology & Evolution on June 3, 2025.

Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on X: @MicahHanks.