DNA from water

2008/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biologia
• Genetika

A group of French and Italian researchers has developed a way to detect aquatic animals without running over or seeing the same animal. The method is useful for detecting invasive species in wetlands. The key to this is the detection of DNA, since aquatic animals release cells in the water.

To some extent, identifying the DNA of the collected water cell is like studying the DNA of fossils, since they have to work with very small amounts. For this reason, an expert has participated in the study of fossil DNA. The most difficult thing is to extract, amplify and identify the DNA, as in the fossils, so for this purpose they had to adapt the techniques of paleogenetics. Specifically, they have sought the DNA of mitochondria in cells, more abundant than that of the nucleus. The difference with the study of fossils is that the DNA of the species to be identified can be known.

In this case, this well-known species was the bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana), an invading North American frog that has entered several European countries. Among other things, it has entered France, in certain places, which has allowed them to affirm that the method is reliable.