Burglars beware! Scientists have found a way to collect human DNA from almost ANYWHERE

Anonymity is over, because DNA in the air and water means people can be tracked everywhere in the future.

Scientists have issued a warning after discovering that complex human DNA can be detected from the air, water and even a footprint on a sandy beach.

This could be a critical breakthrough for when killers refuse to reveal where they buried their victims, allowing DNA-searching drones to find human remains in remote locations.

It can help find missing persons and help place criminals at the scene of a crime.

But researchers have warned that it could also be used to profile a person based on their DNA and potentially see if they’ve been to certain areas.

The scientists behind the alert are more used to educating the public about sea turtles, normally using DNA in the environment to learn about turtle diseases.

But they found a huge amount of human DNA in their samples, so they decided to investigate further.

It turned out that it is possible to remove DNA from the air of a veterinary hospital building, the water in rivers and oceans, and even the sand on a beach.

This DNA reveals people’s genetic ancestry, such as whether they are European, and genetic mutations that show a person’s risk of diseases from diabetes and autism to heart disease, based on the results of six DNA samples taken from water and two from the air.

But worryingly, the researchers said there was enough DNA available from the air in a room or footprints on a beach to show whether an individual person had been there — if that person’s DNA profile was known.

There is already concern that millions of people who volunteer their DNA for genealogical research, or to find out if they are descended from Vikings, risk creating a huge genetic database, which could be misused in the future by insurance companies interested in knowing people’s identities. risk of future disease.

But DNA captured from the air and water, without the knowledge of the people it belongs to, can have even worse privacy implications.

It turned out that it is possible to remove DNA from the air of a veterinary hospital building, the water in rivers and oceans, and even the sand on a beach. Pictured: Fiona Duffy and D. Duffy filtering a water sample, Wicklow, Ireland

Dr. David Duffy, who led the University of Florida DNA project, said: ‘We have been constantly surprised throughout this project by the amount of human DNA we find and the quality of that DNA.

“In most cases, the quality is close to that of a human sample.

“There’s enough DNA in the environment to potentially track people in the future, if you have information about their DNA.

‘That raises concerns about supervision and privacy.’

Human DNA is exhaled and coughed into the air, flushed from the toilet into waterways and left in the natural environment as we walk through it.

DNA in sewage pipes of household toilets is already being used to detect the spread of diseases such as Covid, monkeypox and tuberculosis.

But the evidence that DNA is of such high quality in the environment means it could be used to find archaeological sites, if significant, with graves or human sacrifices.

The researchers have not tested whether a person’s DNA can be found in a room after it has recently been vacated, but previous studies suggest it is possible, which could help criminal investigations.

Human DNA was also found in rivers in Ireland and Florida, as well as a Florida beach.

The concern of the findings, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, is that the breakthrough could mean certain ethnic groups could be found in areas in the future by authoritarian governments persecuting them.