Rhino DNA Bank Aids Anti-Poaching Fight

To reconstruct the transition from hunting and gathering to farming and herding, researchers turned to an unusual source: urine salts left behind by humans and animals.

Imagine pointing your smartphone at a salty snack you found at the back of your pantry and immediately knowing if its ingredients had turned rancid.

Wildlife detectives aiming to protect endangered species have long been hobbled by the near impossibility of collecting DNA samples from rare and elusive animals. Now, researchers have developed a method for extracting genetic clues quickly and cheaply from degraded and left-behind materials, such as feces, skin or saliva, and from food products suspected of containing endangered animals.