Airborne environmental DNA: a new measurement capability for the living world
Airborne environmental DNA (eDNA) is transforming how we monitor the living environment. TNO develops airborne eDNA as a rigorous monitoring technology with actionable results, combining experimental science, atmospheric modelling, and national network development to move eDNA from research innovation into operational practice across policy, management, and industry.
The scale of what we cannot yet measure
It is currently difficult to collect biological information at the pace and scale that society requires. Understanding which species are present in a landscape, how ecosystems are changing, or whether a biological threat is emerging typically demands specialist field teams, time-intensive surveys, and methods that are hard to standardise across sectors and geographies.
Regulatory demand for this information is accelerating. Frameworks including the CSRD, the EU Nature Restoration Law, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework are creating concrete obligations for companies and governments to measure, report, and act on biodiversity impact and environmental change.
For public health authorities and agricultural stakeholders, the need for early biological warning signals is equally pressing. The monitoring capacity to meet these obligations does not yet exist at the scale required. A fundamentally different measurement approach is needed.
Airborne eDNA as a rigorous measurement science
Airborne environmental DNA offers a new path. Organisms continuously shed genetic material into their surroundings through skin cells, pollen, spores, and other biological particles. Collecting and analysing this material makes it possible to detect the presence of many species simultaneously, track ecosystem change over time, and generate biological insight at spatial and temporal scales that conventional approaches alone cannot achieve.
At TNO, our focus is on turning this potential into a robust, interpretable measurement capability with results that are genuinely actionable. We believe eDNA is the future of ecological monitoring, and we approach it as a measurement science challenge: one that requires careful sampling design, transparent interpretation, and integration into decision frameworks used by policy, management, and industry.
Our emphasis is on airborne eDNA as a distinct and rapidly emerging domain. Genetic material transported through the air creates a continuously mixed molecular signal of surrounding biological activity across terrestrial scales. TNO builds on 20+ years of expertise in air pollution monitoring to develop this capability from the ground up, treating airborne eDNA not as a qualitative observation but as a signal whose properties, limitations, and uncertainties can be characterised, calibrated, modelled, and validated. This rigour is what connects measurement to application, and what makes regulatory uptake possible.
Sampling, spatial interpretation, and national coordination
TNO's work in airborne eDNA is organised around three connected capabilities that together bridge the gap between laboratory science and operational monitoring.
TNO develops and evaluates airborne eDNA sampling devices and strategies, including fundamental and applied research into how environmental conditions shape the collected signal. By applying the same measurement standards used in conventional air quality monitoring, we build a foundation that supports reproducibility and cross-sector adoption.
For airborne eDNA data to be meaningful, it must be understood in spatial context. A central question is how far biological signals travel through the atmosphere, and how sampling location and configuration relate to potential source areas. TNO draws on its world-leading position in air quality modelling to link airborne eDNA observations to their effective catchment areas, accounting for atmospheric dispersion, landscape structure, and deposition. This spatially explicit understanding is essential for generating actionable insights in applications ranging from biodiversity assessment and agricultural pathogen detection to public health surveillance and safety-related sensing.
Technology uptake requires coordination well beyond individual projects. TNO plays an active role in strengthening the Dutch national eDNA community, facilitating knowledge exchange between researchers, environmental monitoring firms, consultancies, and government agencies. Our collaboration with Wageningen University and Research connects this network to biological and agricultural science, broadening its reach and relevance.
Together, these capabilities position TNO as a partner for organisations seeking to integrate credible, scalable biological monitoring into their operations, reporting frameworks, or policy instruments. Whether you are navigating biodiversity reporting obligations, developing environmental monitoring services, or working on biological sensing for health or safety applications, we would welcome the conversation.
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