DNA Detectives: How scientists are using DNA from the environment to see the unseen

by Sanjana Kulkarnifigures by Swathy Karamchedu Forensic DNA testing has become crucial in criminal investigations and legal proceedings. DNA has linked people to crime scenes using hair or blood and exonerated wrongfully convicted individuals. This type of DNA is called environmental DNA (eDNA) because it is collected from the environment, rather than from a person. Scientists have also begun analyzing eDNA from non-human organisms. All … Continue reading DNA Detectives: How scientists are using DNA from the environment to see the unseen

Something in the Sewage: What watching our wastewater can tell us about infectious diseases

by Ya’el Courtneyfigures by MacKenzie Maugeredited by  Yuli Lily Hsieh January 2023 marked the third anniversary of the discovery of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic that halted life as we knew it. It overwhelmed hospitals worldwide, and is still infecting around 250,000 people daily across the globe in February 2023. Over these three years, many countries have struggled to monitor the rapidly … Continue reading Something in the Sewage: What watching our wastewater can tell us about infectious diseases

Waste Not, Want Not: Harnessing the power of microbes for wastewater recycling

by Elaine Cheung “Use poison to cure poison.” This isn’t just a Chinese old wives’ tale, but an emerging approach being used to tackle one of the modern world’s greatest issues: availability of clean water. The largest portion of water consumed in American households comes from toilet and shower usage. This poses a problem for maintaining renewable water sources, as wastewater is particularly difficult to … Continue reading Waste Not, Want Not: Harnessing the power of microbes for wastewater recycling