Scientists on an Arctic expedition have isolate polar bear DNA from frozen skin cells left behind in tracks in the snow — a breakthrough that could help protect vulnerable wildlife on every continent .
In rapidly changing surroundings like the Arctic , it ’s particularly crucial for conservation efforts to stay on up to date with information on wildlife wellness and population size of it . “ At present , researchers use expensive , invading techniques , ” say Arnaud Lyet ofWWFin anews release . “ Using footprint desoxyribonucleic acid , we could dramatically cut the investment required , so monitoring populations could be done more easily . ”
After pull in the coke around 10 gargantuan pawprints , researchers evaporate it down and used filter to discover inherited material from the cells left in the meltwater . Then they amplify the DNA . “ This is the first time we have been able to take out deoxyribonucleic acid from a track leave by a polar bear,”saysEva Bellemain of Gallic desoxyribonucleic acid - analysis firmSPYGEN . “ We found not only the bear ’s DNA , but also that of a seal and a seagull . ”
Combined with observations by the WWF International squad , the scientists puzzled together a likely scenario that bring place on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard : A female arctic bear had just killed a seal when a seagull get at the kill site ( probably to get in on the meal ) . The bear left some rakehell from the butchery in her footprints , and the mug defecated at the site . “ So this one step tells the whole story,”Bellemain adds .
The team is working on refining their analysis of the footprint DNA to extract more information about the animate being , and they ’re look for molecular markers that will take into account them to identify single bears . “ We will be able to see how they habituate their territories and how they are related to one another,”Bellemain tells The Guardian . Just a individual cellular phone would be enough .
They ’re also hoping to see if the method acting can be extended to other rare or difficult to access wildlife — perhaps to include clay print as well . After all , " beast tracks are what we find most often in the wild,“Lyet tells Reuters . Although , deoxyribonucleic acid breaks down far more slow in the low temperature than in the tropical zone .
Images : Tom Arnbom / WWF - Canon ( top ) , Steve Morello / WWF - Canon ( mediate )
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