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DEW
  • DEW
  • Advanced Member Topic Starter
10 June 2024 06:49:41
Testing DNA in the air may make food cheaper
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c99zn92g2qgo 

Simple air sampling but with increased sensitivity allows the presence of pests (and anything else) to be detected. In turn this knowledge can inform farmers when to use pesticides, or even better, not to spray at all.
War does not determine who is right, only who is left - Bertrand Russell

Chichester 12m asl
Roger Parsons
14 June 2024 10:14:28
A documentary to watch for:
New Scientist: By Davide Abbatescianni - 12 June 2024
Documentary explores a geneticist's motivation to understand the past
"Hunt for the Oldest DNA, the story of Eske Willerslev, a Danish evolutionary geneticist reconstructing ecosystems from ancient DNA, is as compelling as his scientific discoveries."
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26234952-400-documentary-explores-a-geneticists-motivation-to-understand-the-past/ 

Webpage:
Hunt for the Oldest DNA
https://oldestdna.ca/ 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
DEW
  • DEW
  • Advanced Member Topic Starter
14 June 2024 10:44:12
I'm surprised there's no mention on the website of DNA from insects trapped in amber, which could be 100m years old.

 Each region represents a different era of Earth’s geologic past: Dominican amber is the youngest, between 16 and 20 million years old; Baltic amber, which like its Dominican counterpart typically includes ants, flies, and lizards, is 40 million years old; and Burmese amber, whose vertebrate diversity is unparalleled, is about 100 million years old. 
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/amber-fossil-supply-chain-has-dark-human-cost/594601/ 
 
War does not determine who is right, only who is left - Bertrand Russell

Chichester 12m asl
Roger Parsons
14 June 2024 11:01:19

I'm surprised there's no mention on the website of DNA from insects trapped in amber, which could be 100m years old.

 Each region represents a different era of Earth’s geologic past: Dominican amber is the youngest, between 16 and 20 million years old; Baltic amber, which like its Dominican counterpart typically includes ants, flies, and lizards, is 40 million years old; and Burmese amber, whose vertebrate diversity is unparalleled, is about 100 million years old. 
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/amber-fossil-supply-chain-has-dark-human-cost/594601/ 
 

Originally Posted by: DEW 

It is an intriguing idea. Nature has this 2021 piece on the subject, starting with recent inclusions:

"Insects entombed in copal, the sub-fossilized resin precursor of amber, represent a potential source of genetic data for extinct and extant, but endangered or elusive, species. Despite several studies demonstrated that it is not possible to recover endogenous DNA from insect inclusions, the preservation of biomolecules in fossilized resins samples is still under debate. In this study, we tested the possibility of obtaining endogenous ancient DNA (aDNA) molecules from insects preserved in copal, applying experimental protocols specifically designed for aDNA recovery."

3 years on there may have been some progress - I'll have a look. The initial 2024 story was in was a recent New Scientist article:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26234952-400-documentary-explores-a-geneticists-motivation-to-understand-the-past/ 

Successful extraction of insect DNA from recent copal inclusions: limits and perspectives
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-86058-9 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
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