Criminals beware — if you commit a crime in a room with air conditioning, you probably won’t get away with it. Scientists from Flinders University in Australia have found that air conditioners can pick up traces of DNA from a room’s occupants.
The team conducted a study to see if they could find environmental DNA, or eDNA, from a room’s occupants in its air conditioning system. eDNA are bits of DNA that animals, such as humans, leave behind in their environment, such as minuscule flakes of skin or exhaled droplets of saliva. The theory was that some of that eDNA would get sucked up into an air conditioning vent before it could settle.
The study was conducted on air conditioners in four offices and four homes. They were thoroughly cleaned and then the occupants went about their normal lives for four weeks. The team then took samples from inside the air conditioners and were able to match eDNA to the occupants for all but one sample. “It is very unlikely that an average offender, even with forensic awareness, could totally prevent their DNA from being released into the environment,” said Dr. Mariya Goray, the study’s lead scientist.
