"Across a Swiss meadow and into its forested edges, the drone dragged a jumbo-size cotton swab from a 13-foot tether. Along its path, the moistened swab collected scraps of life: some combination of sloughed skin and hair; mucus, saliva, and blood splatters; pollen flecks and fungal spores. Later, biologists used a sequencer about the size of a phone to stream the landscape's DNA into code, revealing dozens upon dozens of species, some endangered, some invasive."
"Today, autonomous robots collect DNA while state-of-the-art sequencers process genetic samples quickly and cheaply, and machine-learning algorithms detect life by sound or shape. These technologies are revolutionizing humanity's ability to catalog Earth's species, which are estimated to number 8 million-though perhaps far, far more-by illuminating the teeming life that so often eludes human observation. Only about 2.3 million species have been formally described."
Autonomous drones and robots can collect environmental samples across landscapes using tethered swabs that pick up skin, hair, mucus, saliva, blood, pollen, and spores. Portable DNA sequencers can convert collected genetic material into sequence data rapidly and cheaply, revealing dozens of species from a single sample, including endangered and invasive taxa. Machine-learning algorithms can detect organisms by sound or shape to complement genetic approaches. These tools accelerate species cataloging and expose large numbers of undescribed "dark taxa." Only about 2.3 million species have formal descriptions, leaving the majority of biodiversity unstudied.
Read at The Atlantic
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