On Jan. 6, 2022, two new studies published in the journal Current Biology showed that environmental DNA (eDNA) collected from air can be used to detect a wide range of animal species and offers a novel, non-invasive approach to monitoring biodiversity.

The findings were made by two independent groups of researchers, one based in Denmark, the other based in the United Kingdom and Canada. Both research groups set out to test whether airborne eDNA could be used to detect terrestrial animal species. To do this, the research teams collected air samples from two European zoos, Hamerton Zoo Park, UK, and Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark. Each team used a different method of filtering airborne eDNA, but both succeeded in detecting the presence of numerous animal species within and beyond the confines of the two zoos.

Living organisms shed DNA into their surrounding environments as they interact with them, and in recent years, eDNA has become an important tool for species detection in a wide range of habitats. For instance, eDNA analysis of water samples is routinely used to map species in aquatic environments. However, while air surrounds everything on land, it is only now that airborne eDNA has been explored for animal monitoring.