Using the internet for early warning of genetic erosion

Regular readers will recognize this as a bit of a hobbyhorse of mine. Turns out I’m not alone. A guest post over at Resilience Science discusses harnessing ICTs for ecological monitoring.

Can researchers who are interested in ecological monitoring tap into these increased flows of information by “mining” the internet to detect “early-warning” signs that may signal abrupt ecological changes?

Well, if ecological monitoring, why not genetic monitoring? The health community is in the vanguard, and reaping the benefits.

…nowadays, around 60% of all early warnings of emerging epidemic emergencies that reach the WHO come from … ICT tools.

Agrobiodiversity conservation and use also stand to gain immensely, I think. We just need to take that first step.