Astro Hacker News - Air is full of DNA

azalemeth |next [-]

I do often wonder about stories like this in the context of forensic science – my (incomplete!) understanding a lot of the time suspect DNA samples are taken from small areas and amplified significantly with high-cycle count PCR. I'd worry that any jury presented with a statistical argument about a fragment of somebody's DNA being very unlikely ("1 in 100 million") to be different to the sample found at the scene would not be aware of all of the potential systematic reasons why the actual true probability may be much, much higher.

Terr_ |root |parent [-]

Probability seems to be one of those things humans habitually mess-up at.

"The chances of this person's unique DNA showing up at the scene are a zillion to one!"

"What does that really mean when the sample also contains unique DNA for a hundred other people? Did all of them commit the crime as a group?"

butvacuum |next |previous [-]

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 |root |parent |next [-]

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 |root |parent [-]

Do you have links to these youtubers? Sounds interesting

samplatt |root |parent [-]

Not OP, but The Thought Emporium is a personal favourite. Their name belies the hands-on nature of their videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0_q-fD_lyU

smolder |root |parent |next |previous [-]

Paleontology has been really helped by the ease of sequencing, to the point where many evolutionary arguments are moot. Humans are apes, birds are dinosaurs. Some people still dispute it, but not with evidence on their side.

pfdietz |root |parent |next [-]

> birds are dinosaurs

Not that I doubt that, but how does DNA help, when we have no DNA samples from dinosaurs?

Terr_ |root |parent |previous [-]

> Some people still dispute it

I particularly like this Futurama clip on the subject. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VzGtk7Ip4NU

globular-toast |root |parent |previous [-]

Should be noted, though, the cheaper/quicker techniques do still come with compromises compared to the "gold standard" technique used for the Human Genome Project.

nelox |next |previous [-]

What a wonderful title, a breath of fresh air.

nasretdinov |root |parent [-]

A breath of fresh _DNA_

dkobia |next |previous [-]

This always blows my mind. We are currently breathing in the DNA of the trees, animals, and people around us—and we’re leaving ours behind for them, too. We’re all one big genetic soup.

SideburnsOfDoom |root |parent [-]

> This always blows my mind. We are currently breathing in the DNA of the trees,

At this time of year, believe me, I am aware of the inhaled tree DNA setting off my pollen allergies.

seydor |next |previous [-]

Let's wait for smartphones with nanopores

madaxe_again |next |previous [-]

I was chatting with a biologist friend a while back, and one tidbit he dropped in was that any sample of air from anywhere on earth will likely contain the dna of organisms unknown to science, so abundant the tree of life is.

scotty79 |root |parent [-]

I firmly believe that there are thousands of times more species of viruses in circulation that influence human health, almost always in minor fashion, than we currently know. Any random, sub-clinical symptom is in my belief highly likely to be caused by one of such viruses.

dang |previous [-]

[stub for offtopicness]

baxtr |root |parent |next [-]

> Scratch your head and you’ll release DNA-rich cellular material into the air. There, it will mingle with DNA from myriad other sources: your own and others’ exhalations and exfoliations, fragments of hair, feathers, excrement, pollen and spores, and microorganisms such as viruses and microalgae. This DNA, which can include segments that are tens of thousands of base pairs long, will then wander the air for perhaps a few days, often clinging to dust particles. It can travel distances that range from a few metres to several thousand.

shevy-java |root |parent |next |previous [-]

[flagged]

dhruv3006 |root |parent |next |previous [-]

Why is nature suddenly click bait - changing times I guess.

cmos |root |parent |next |previous [-]

As is the Ocean.

tim333 |root |parent |previous [-]

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 |root |parent [-]

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 ...

philipallstar |root |parent |next [-]

Actually, the US did a lot to downplay the idea that the nearby lab in Wuhan that was doing gain of function research on coronaviruses was in any way involved, to the extent that you'd get shadow-banned on Twitter for mentioning it.

popopo73 |root |parent |previous [-]

    >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?