Airborne DNA could aid biodiversity and biosecurity surveillance if three gaps are closed
image: Professor Fumito Maruyama of Hiroshima University presents a certificate of appreciation to Professor Stephan C. Schuster (center) of Nanyang Technological University during the "Urban Bioaerosols and Planetary Health in the Carbon-Neutral Era” international workshop held at Hiroshima University’s Phoenix International Center MIRAI CREA on March 12, 2026. Professor Stefan J. Green of Rush University Medical Center stands on the right.
Credit: Yue Yin/Hiroshima University
The air around us is filled with genetic traces from plants, animals, microbes, and people. Scientists increasingly hope to use this airborne DNA to monitor ecosystems, detect biological threats, and track pathogens without having to capture the organisms themselves.
But finding DNA in the air does not necessarily reveal what is alive, active, or dangerous.
In a correspondence article published in Nature, Fumito Maruyama, professor at Hiroshima University’s The IDEC Institute, and an international group of researchers identify three unresolved gaps in sampling, interpretation, and governance.
RELATED: Air surveillance reveals hidden reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes
They argue that these must be addressed before suitable airborne DNA monitoring technologies can be reliably deployed in real-world surveillance.
The correspondence was authored by Maruyama; Naomichi Yamamoto of Seoul National University, South Korea; Stefan J. Green of Rush University Medical Center, USA; and Stephan C. Schuster of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
###
About Hiroshima University
Since its foundation in 1949, Hiroshima University has striven to become one of the most prominent and comprehensive universities in Japan for the promotion and development of scholarship and education. Consisting of 12 schools for undergraduate level and 5 graduate schools, ranging from natural sciences to humanities and social sciences, the university has grown into one of the most distinguished comprehensive research universities in Japan. English website: https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en