UpbeatA DNA early-warning system could spot toxic algal blooms before the water turns
Harmful algal blooms can poison fish, birds, and beach days with little warning. A Florida Atlantic University team working in Florida's Indian River Lagoon has shown that long-read DNA sequencing of water samples — reading the genetic fingerprints of the microbes present — can track a bloom's dynamics in near real time, catching the community shifts that precede an outbreak. The lagoon's 2017-era red tides caused billions in lost income, and the approach, published in PLOS Water, could give coastal communities something they have never had: a forecast instead of a surprise.
The upbeat factora bucket of water, read like a book, can now warn a coastline before a toxic bloom blooms.
SDG 14 · Life below water — Mechanism: tech innovation
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