The ethics of human sequences in environmental samples

• Published in: Nature ecology & evolution Vol. 7; no. 6; pp. 796 - 797
• Main Author: Ram, Natalie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.06.2023; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 4014/4045; 631/208; Biological and Physical Anthropology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; CFR; Confidentiality; Ecology; Environmental DNA; Ethics; Evolution; Evolutionary Biology; General Data Protection Regulation; Genetic testing; Human subjects; Law enforcement; Life Sciences; News & Views; news-and-views; Paleontology; Personal information; Privacy; Review boards; Surveillance; Zoology

Human genetic material can be inadvertently captured and enriched from environmental DNA samples. This has both legal and ethical implications for future research.