The following essay is reprinted with permission. Talkonline publication dedicated to the latest research.

Human DNA can be sequenced from small amounts of water, sand and air in the environment to potentially extract identifiable information like genetic background, gender and health risks, according to our new study.

Every cell of the body contains DNA. Because each person has a unique genetic code, DNA can be used to identify individuals. Typically, practitioners and researchers obtain human DNA through direct sampling, such as blood tests, swabs, or biopsies. However, all living beings, including animals, plants and microbes, constantly shedding DNA. Water, soil and even air contain microscopic particles of the biological material of living organisms.

The DNA that an organism releases into the environment is called ecological DNA or eDNA. Over the past couple of decades, scientists have been able to collect and sequence eDNA from soil or water samples in monitoring of biodiversity, populations of wild animals another pathogens. Tracking rare or elusive endangered species through their eDNA has been a boon to researchers, as traditional monitoring methods such as observation or trapping can be difficult, often unsuccessful, and intrusive to the species of interest.

Researchers using eDNA tools typically only focus on the species they are studying and ignore the DNA of other species. However, people so shedcough and flush DNA into their environment. And as our team of geneticists says, ecologists another marine biologists V Duffy’s lab found at the University of Florida, signs of human life can be found everywhere but in the most isolated places.

Animals, humans and viruses in eDNA

Our team uses environmental DNA to study endangered sea turtles and viral tumors to which they are subject. Tiny hatchling sea turtles lose their DNA as they crawl along the shore on their way to the ocean shortly after birth. Sand scooped from their footprints contains enough DNA to provide valuable information about tortoises and chelonid herpesviruses and fibropapillomatous tumors affecting them. Scoop up a liter tank water a recovering sea turtle under veterinary care equally provides a wealth of genetic information for research. Unlike blood or skin samples, eDNA collection does not stress the animal.

Genetic sequencing technology The methods used to decipher DNA have improved rapidly in recent years and it is now possible to easily sequence the DNA of each organism in an environmental sample. Our team suspected that the sand and water samples we used to study sea turtles might also contain DNA from a number of other species, including, of course, humans. that we didn’t know that how informative the human DNA we could extract would be like this.

To find out, we took samples from a variety of places in Florida, including the ocean and rivers in urban and rural areas, sand from isolated beaches, and a remote island not normally visited by humans. We found human DNA in all of these locations, except for the remote island, and these samples were of high enough quality for analysis and sequencing.

We also tried this technique in Ireland, following a river that flows from a remote mountaintop, through small rural villages, and into the sea in a larger city of 13,000 people. We have found human DNA everywhere except in a remote mountain tributary where a river flows, away from human habitation.

We also took air samples from a room at our Florida Wildlife Veterinary Hospital. The people present in the room allowed us to take air samples. We recovered DNA matching DNA from humans, the animal patient, and common animal viruses present at the time of collection.

Surprisingly, the human eDNA found in the local environment was intact enough for us to be able to identify mutations associated with the disease and determine the genetic origins of people living in the area. DNA sequencing, left by volunteers in the form of footprints in the sand, even made it possible to identify part of their sex chromosomes.

Ethical implications of human eDNA collection

Our team duplicates the unintentional extraction of human DNA from environmental samples “Human genetics by catch”. We call for a deeper discussion on how to ethically handle the human DNA of the environment.

Human EDNA could provide significant advances in research in areas as diverse as conservation, epidemiology, forensics, and agriculture. If handled correctly, human eDNA could help archaeologists track down unexplored ancient human settlementsallow biologists Monitoring cancer mutations in a given population or provide law enforcement useful forensic information.

However, there are many ethical implications associated with the unintentional or intentional collection and analysis of human genetic by-catch. Identifiable information can be retrieved from eDNA and access to this level of detail on individuals or populations is responsibilities related to consent and confidentiality.

Although we conducted our study with the approval of our institutional review boardwhich guarantees that human research complies with the ethical principles of research, there is no guarantee that everyone will treat this type of information ethically.

Many questions arise regarding the human DNA of the environment. For example, who should have access to human eDNA sequences? Should this information be publicly available? Is consent required before human eDNA sampling and from whom? Should researchers remove human genetic information from samples originally collected to identify other species?

We believe it is critical to put in place policies that ensure that data is collected, analyzed and stored ethically and appropriately. Policy makers, the scientific community, and other stakeholders must take the collection of human eDNA seriously and balance consent and privacy with the possible benefits of studying eDNA. Raising these questions now can help ensure that everyone is aware of the potential of eDNA and allow more time to develop protocols and regulations to ensure the proper use of eDNA techniques and the ethical management of human genetic by-catch.

This article was originally published on Talk. Read original article.

Nearly half of all US households now have access to NextGen TV broadcasts. But due to the FCC’s simulcast mandate, broadcasters don’t have the bandwidth for 4K broadcasts. And they may not have the required bandwidth for a very long time.

Just a few years ago, ATSC 3.0 was hailed as the savior of free-to-air (OTA) television. He promised to bring 4K video and Dolby Atmos audio to every home in the United States, and surprisingly, broadcasters were really interested in the idea. So why can’t I still watch 4K antenna TV?

What is ATSC 3.0 (NextGen Television)?

V ATSC 3.0 standard, colloquially referred to as “NextGen TV”, is an update to the existing HDTV (digital television) standard currently used in broadcast television. It can transmit huge amounts of data by combining traditional antenna television methods with Internet Protocol (IP).

The biggest advantage of NextGen TV is its data transfer capabilities. Broadcasters using this standard can deliver 4K video and Dolby Atmos audio over the air and into homes—in other words, ATSC 3.0 is free for anyone with an antenna, doesn’t require a visit from a cable company, but far outperforms Cable TV quality.

In addition, broadcasters claim that ATSC 3.0 can adapt to new video codecs so it can deliver 8K video. It also has a wider range than the existing HDTV standard and can be used for targeted emergency broadcasts (which may include specific escape routes for tornadoes and the like).

There are some theoretical applications for ATSC 3.0 – for example, it can send TV to cars and smartphones for free, or provide some level of internet access (download only) for smartwatches and other devices. But these ideas are a bit far-fetched, and free 4K TV is really the biggest factor for NextGen TV.

But the FCC is not forcing broadcasters or TV manufacturers to move to the ATSC 3.0 standard. Adoption of NextGen TV is completely voluntary. Historically, this is a bit of an odd stance, as the US government was somewhat aggressive during the transition from analogue television (NTSC) to digital or HDTV (now retroactively called ATSC 1.0 – ATSC 2.0 doesn’t exist, by the way). ).

So, the broadcasters carry the NextGen TV flag. At least 100 stations ATSC 3.0 is now broadcast in the United States, reaching approximately half of all US households (according to to the National Association of Broadcasters). But we still don’t have 4K OTA TV.

Here’s the problem; Broadcasters are unhappy with the FCC’s approach to this transition. They blame the FCC for the lack of 4K OTA TV and fear that without aggressive regulation, the full rollout of ATSC 3.0 could be delayed by several years. (These criticisms are set out in letter from NAB to FCCI am not making assumptions or theories.)

Why are there still no 4K channels?

But this mandate has a few unfortunate side effects. Unfortunately, the big problem is that broadcasters don’t have enough bandwidth to support 4K channels – they “waste” too much bandwidth on legacy HDTV channels. (NAB specifically refers to this approach as “wasteful.”)

Even if you have an ATSC 3.0 tuner, you don’t see the full benefits of this new standard. And you certainly won’t brag about it. Thus, there is very little demand for (or awareness of) NextGen TV. The only people trying to make a fuss about ATSC 3.0 are broadcasters and nerds like me.

This is where the feedback loop begins. Manufacturers know that NextGen TV is not in demand (or not required by the FCC), so they do not install ATSC 3.0 tuners in their new TVs. When broadcasters are finally allowed to phase out their ATSC 1.0 channels, very few households will be able to watch ATSC 3.0 broadcasts. The FCC has already added temporary extension to that five-year rule, and there’s a good chance it will see another, more specific extension.

Unless the FCC renews its mandate, viewers who want to continue watching antenna TV may have to buy an external ATSC 3.0 tuner, upgrade to a compatible TV, or rely on local stations that haven’t switched yet.

To be honest, I’m sure a lot of people would prefer an external ATSC 3.0 tuner. Modern OTA receivers can connect to your router and broadcast a TV antenna to any device in your home. Some models even have a built-in DVR. Forcing viewers to purchase special ATSC 3.0 equipment could make antenna television something fresh and new, which could improve public perception of the format.

But this technology must be built directly into TVs. This is the only way to make broadcast TV affordable. And as I mentioned earlier, broadcast TV is an essential part of public safety in case of an emergency. If the FCC does not want to continue to support ATSC 1.0 indefinitely, it needs to be forced to migrate to NextGen TV.

This issue is nothing new.

Earlier in this article, I mentioned that the US government was “somewhat aggressive” in its transition to digital TV. In a sense, this is true. A large number of spectators (approx. 3 millionNeilson estimated in 2009) were not prepared for the shutdown of analogue television—they were “left in the dark.” This is despite the fact that over a billion dollars has been spent on (apparently ineffective) public awareness campaigns.

The US government has also been widely criticized when it forced manufacturers to install digital tuners in new TVs, DVD players, and VCRs because it temporarily increased prices. Many viewers were unhappy that they had to buy new equipment in the first place! (Remember, the “analog outage” happened in 2009 during the housing and financial crisis.)

But the “death of analogue broadcasting” was a 10-year project that took 13 years to complete. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 called for a full transition to digital television by 2006—broadcasters and manufacturers did not take it seriously, so after the delay in the transition, the US government and the US Federal Communications Commission began to take an “aggressive” stance.

And even as it became more aggressive, the US government repeatedly made concessions and delays. The very first delay pushed this transition back to 2008. It was then rescheduled for February 2009. And at the last minute, the DTV Delay Law set a deadline of June 2009.

A similar situation may arise with NextGen TV. The new standard was first open to US broadcasters in 2017 but has received very little support due to vague FCC rules. If the FCC listens to broadcasters, it will start pushing for a full transition to NextGen TV.

But judging by the past, it could take a few years for the FCC to become “aggressive.” And it will be very difficult for him to inform the public about ATSC 3.0 (assuming there is a public awareness campaign at all), since most people now use the Internet for free entertainment and news. We may not have 4K OTA TV until the end of the decade.

It should also be noted that when switching to HDTV, coupons for OTA receivers (worth $40 each) were offered to millions of US households. Thanks to this, many families have not lost access to antenna television. But such an action seems unlikely in the 2020s, as many people don’t realize that over-the-air television is a societal necessity.

How to prepare for 4K OTA TV

This story is a bit of a bummer. We should have had a 4K OTA TV by now, but we don’t have one. And while it’s easy to blame the FCC and TV manufacturers, we also have to be a little realistic – the lack of public interest in ATSC 3.0 is probably its biggest hurdle.

On the other hand, you probably don’t need to buy an ATSC 3.0 tuner anytime soon. But if you want to get ready, there are plenty of ATSC 3.0 tuners to choose from, and some new TVs (especially premium models) have built-in NextGen TV tuners.

Most existing ATSC 3.0 tuners do not connect directly to the TV. Instead, they are receivers that connect to your router, allowing you to stream your TV antenna to any device in your home (from the app, of course). V The SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex 4K is our favorite option as it’s fairly affordable (and can connect to a Plex server or USB DVR). It also has four tuners so you can stream or record four different channels at the same time (although two of those tuners are ATSC 1.0 only).

I also suggest you check channel mapas this will show the channels available in your area and their signal strength (which may affect antenna selection).