India gears to use eDNA to identify, track
wildlife
22 Dec. 2023
The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has set up a pilot project to use
eDNA (environmental DNA), to study and monitor wildlife.
At present, researchers collect scat (fecal) material from animals and
take them for identification. This is done in the areas they are
studying. The DNA of the particular targeted species is then sorted out
for population estimation.
However, a study by scientists from the United Kingdom has stated that
air-quality networks collect environmental DNA with the potential to
measure biodiversity at continental scales and that these samples have
‘surprisingly stable DNA’, and it is the best possible method to
ascertain terrestrial biodiversity.
ZSI’s pilot project, based on this study, will do this through air
quality monitoring stations, set up by various government authorities,
that are used to identify and collect particulate matter present in the
air.
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