eDNA

Friday proceeded much as the preceding days; a balancing act between internal and external demands. I attended a fascinating lunch held in a cordoned off area of a chi chi restaurant (pictured), where the subject was eDNA. This is Environmental DNA, which uses genetic analysis to sample water to show what species are in the ecosystem. As conservationists we could use this to prove that over time we are seeing, for example, increased incidence of elephant DNA in water courses, which might indicate that conservation measures are working. It’s exciting as a novel technique and more efficient than more labour intensive field techniques. In a study in the Amazon led by the British lady who hosted the lunch, regular netting of fish species resulted in a sample of four (with all the ethics around catching and handling) whereas using eDNA two simple samples of 500ml of river water gave over 100 species.

Tread carefully when googling eDNA as it mainly brings up search results on elderly women called Edna.