DUST clouds could come back to haunt the people who create them. In
California, where dust is a serious problem, researchers have developed a way of
tracing it back to its source using DNA fingerprinting.
Activities such as ploughing, harvesting and building work kick up enough
dust in California’s central valley to cause respiratory problems such as asthma
throughout the state. The smallest particles lodge deep in the lungs, causing
inflammation or infection. Until now it’s been difficult to work out where the
most obnoxious dust comes from.
But then researchers thought of trying DNA. “There’s much more biological
information…
