Contact
Davíð Gíslason
Project Manager
davidg@matis.is
The conference MOBeDNA (monitoring biodiversity using eDNA) was held in the hall of the Marine Research Institute 2-3. October sl.
The conference included lectures on new methodologies in conservation biology and research on the biological diversity of fish, algae and other organisms in sea and fresh water.
The conference included lectures on new methodologies in conservation biology and research on the biological diversity of fish, algae and other organisms in sea and fresh water. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is the genetic material of an organism found in the environment, but most organisms leave genetic material in the environment that comes from dead skin cells, fish mucus and faeces. By taking a sea sample and filtering through a fine filter, the DNA found in the sea can be collected. The genetic material is then isolated from the filter, amplified and sequenced. Specific regions on the mitochondrial genome are sequenced, but the order varies greatly between species. The sequence is compared with known DNA sequences of species in a database to determine the number of species in the sample. With this, it is possible to obtain an assessment of the biological diversity of an ecosystem without disturbing or killing the organisms.
At the conference, 13 researchers from Iceland, Norway, Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Canada presented eDNA research and 16 presentations were made. The presentations focused on the use of this new technology in biodiversity research, the state of knowledge, comparisons with other methods, methods of collection, automation of measurements and further opportunities for the use of the method. Another purpose of the conference is to form a group of scientists from the Nordic countries, Europe and Canada who are working on eDNA research that can work together in the future to advance such research.
The conference was open and about 50 people registered. The conference concluded that the technology and methodology of eDNA research is well advanced. The main obstacle to the development of the method is that there are many reference databases for species and information in them is not standardized. Furthermore, the information contained therein is often unverified. It was concluded that there is a need to establish a new international benchmark database or to strengthen existing databases so that information on all types is more accurate and always accurate.
The conference was sponsored by the Nordic Council of Ministers' AG-FISK subgroup on fisheries and aquaculture. Davíð Gíslason, an expert on Matís, and Christophe Pampoulie, a geneticist at the Marine Research Institute, organized the meeting.
