Loose strands of DNA end up in nature via our wastewater. As of yet, it is unclear how much this free-floating DNA impacts environmental and public health. Researchers at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) have now found a way to determine just how much potentially harmful DNA ends up in our wastewater. They have developed a method that can isolate such free-floating DNA from wastewater to determine the extent of the problem. The results of their work will be published in Water Research in February 2021, but have already been pre-published online.