Wildlife DNA samples accidentally captured human genetic data

Researchers at the University of Florida were collecting environmental DNA, genetic material shed into water, sand, and air, to track wildlife, when they noticed the samples also contained a surprising amount of human DNA.

The team deliberately tested how much human genetic information could be pulled from water, sand, and air samples never intended to capture people, and found human DNA in all of the wildlife samples, detailed enough to reveal the ancestry and disease-linked mutations of the people in the area.

The same technology used to monitor endangered species or track disease outbreaks can, almost as a byproduct, build a genetic profile of whoever happened to be nearby, something the researchers termed human genetic bycatch. Getting prior consent from everyone who shed that DNA would be near impossible, the authors noted. The authors called for new ethical guidelines before the practice becomes routine.

Samples meant for turtles carried human secrets too.