Scientists
have discovered traces of DNA stuck on old spider webs. DNA from both the
spider and any other creature that has fallen trap to the spider’s web can be
collected from old spider webs. These traces of DNA can be of importance to
researchers in the fields of conservation ecology, pest management, etc. Scientists
amplified cytochrome oxidase 1, a mitochondrial gene, in order to identify a
species that may have been on a spider web. This type of technology allows
researchers to collect a number of spider webs throughout an environment to
possibly detect the survival of endangers species. It also makes identifying
species a whole lot easier and humane when you don’t have to capture and kill
an organism.
I personally believe this type of technology is great. I
believe in the preservation of natural wildlife, and to be able to easily
identify species of animals in a given environment just by a spider web makes
it good for conservation ecologists to work. It is also, however, much more
humane to organisms when they don’t have to be stripped from the wild and
killed. This article was very interesting, and I would like to further
investigate how this type of DNA research is benefiting our wildlife.
