Mythologies and lore , the unexplainable , have fascinated people for millennium . Some legends , particularlycryptids – Bigfoot , Yetis , Yowies – live on in the public imagery still , despiteno concrete evidencethat any or all have ever existed .
Next calendar month , however , ateam of external scientistsare heading to the spot where perhaps the most renowned mythic animate being of all supposedly resides – Loch Ness , Scotland – to find out once and for all if there ’s any verity behind the legend .
The squad , led by the University of Otago ’s Professor Neil Gemmel , will go far next calendar month to carry out cutting - border DNA sample distribution of the loch ’s water , using technology pioneered by the Human Genome Project , to find out what really lives beneath the waves .
report sighting of the legendary big aquatic marine reptilian , affectionately known as Nessie , date back to the 6th century . Just a quick google will give you breathless interview , fuzzy photos , and irrefutable"proof " . But whether it ’s a pre - historical demon , a rather great catfish , or a curious - looking logarithm , no one has ever let the truth get in the way of a just story .
This research , however , is material . Environmental DNA sampling , oreDNA , is a relatively new proficiency that is help us monitor and hit the books creature in their environments without disturb or harming them . lately , scientists using this proficiency discoveredsix specie of sharksresiding in Pacific waters they had no idea were there until they test the DNA found in pee samples .
By taking pee samples from Loch Ness , the researchers will be able to establish what kind of organisms are survive in the area . However , Professor Gemmel admitted if they did get DNA evidence of an extinct large nautical reptile he would be very surprised .
Why lookup for Nessie if you ’re a scientist ? Let Profesor Neil Gemmel explain .
“ Large fish like catfish and sturgeons , have been suggest as potential explanations for the goliath myth , and we can very much test that idea and others , ” Gemmelexplained .
“ While the prospect of looking for grounds of the Loch Ness monster is the hook to this project , there is an extraordinary amount of young cognition that we will get ahead from the work about organism that populate Loch Ness . ”
Gemmel does think they will discover a few surprises though . He predicts that not only will they be capable to furnish important information on several new metal money of invasive creatures lately blemish in the lake , they could even find young specie of life that have been shroud away in the depths , never studied before .
The eDNA information and scientific process will be share among researchers that range from New Zealand to the UK , the USA to Australia , let in many pioneer in the burgeoning field .
“ We have the opportunity through this labor to manifest the scientific mental process : How possibility are established and test , the pauperization to replicate , use control and write up for perceiver bias using two-fold - blind methodology . These are all important parts of this tarradiddle , ” Gemmel say .
So , if Nessie is real , its day of hiding are numbered , and when the solution are publish next class , we ’ll know once and for all . But perhaps , Nessie wo n’t bend out to be the most surprising discovery after all .
