Every inch of the environment that surrounds us, from the ground we tread, to the water we drink and the air we breathe, potentially contains genetic information from other organisms that inhabit our world. But until recently, researchers lacked the tools needed to make use of that information, which comes in the form of environmental DNA (eDNA) or environmental RNA (eRNA). While scientists have begun to explore uses for eDNA in recent years, fewer have tackled its fickler, more elusive sister eRNA. Now, a team of researchers in Canada have used eRNA to identify signs of heat stress in water fleas, they report in a preprint posted November 18 on bioRxiv.
It’s one of the first studies to use eRNA to make inferences about organism health, says Caren Helbing, a biochemist at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, who wasn’t involved in the research. “There’s been a lot ...
