DNA Samples From Loch Ness Lead to One 'Plausible' Theory

Scientists set to unveil that theory on mythical monster next week
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 22, 2019 10:40 AM CDT
Updated Aug 25, 2019 1:15 PM CDT
Scientists to Unveil 'Plausible' Theory for Loch Ness Monster
This undated file photo shows Scotland's Loch Ness.   (AP Photo, File)

Scientists failed to find Nessie in a study of Scotland's Loch Ness—but they did come up with a possible explanation for more than 1,000 reported sightings of the mythical monster, including 14 this year, per the Mirror. Unfortunately, we don't yet know the details. The findings, to be announced Aug. 29, come after an international team sequenced environmental DNA from 250 water samples, per the New Zealand Herald.

The BBC reports "about 500 million sequences ... have now been analyzed against existing databases" in an effort to catalog all animal and plant life within Loch Ness. "There are around four main explanations about what has been seen" and "our research essentially discounts most of those theories," says geneticist Neil Gemmell of New Zealand's University of Otago. Tantalizingly, he adds: "However, one theory remains plausible." (More Loch Ness monster stories.)

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