Virus Hunters
Environmental nucleic acids—eNAs—offer one way to “see” some of the very small microbes, such as viruses, bacteria, and archaea that are living around us.
A team of Rockefeller University scientists, led by RockEDU Fellow Joe Luna, guided a team of high school students in their exploration and analysis of the viruses and other microbes in water samples nearby to each student. Read on to learn more about this scientific approach and to explore some data from the East River (shown in the picture above from Rockefeller University’s campus in New York City).
A huge thank you to all of the scientists who contributed to this work: Inna Ricardo-Lax, Catherine Freije, Lauren Aguado, Michael Grodus, Caryn Hale, and Joe Luna.
Choose a Level
What do you need to know to hunt for viruses in water near you? Then explore some of our data and see what you find!
At a glance
Topics
- Environmental Science,
- Weather & Climate,
- Life Science,
- Diversity of Organisms,
- Ecology,
- Genetics,
- Organismal Biology,
- Scientific Process & Ethics,
- Scientific Methodology,
- Styles of Scientific Reasoning,
- Categorization & Classification,
- Experimental Evaluation,
- Probabilistic Reasoning
