Scientists unlock ocean secrets through environmental DNA

Currently, only a small percentage of known marine fish species have had their genomes sequenced. Scientists from The Minderoo Foundation in WA and Parks Australia want to change that, and have been delving into the oceans depths to capture and record floating DNA, called eDNA (environmental DNA).eDNA can reveal the presence of rare, cryptic, deep-sea or hard-to-observe species without needing to catch or see them. Scientists have discovered fish living in very unexpected places in Australian waters and have launched a public facing digital platform to show where each species were traced.