Analyzing biodiversity with (e-DNA)

New technologies such as environmental DNA enable efficient analysis of both visible and invisible biodiversity in different types of ecosystems. IVL can assist you with these analyses.

All organisms carry their genetic code in DNA molecules, and these molecules are spread naturally through the environment, e.g. from dead skin cells and sweat. Because these genetic traces are species-specific, they can give a picture of the biodiversity in a particular environment. These environments can be natural ecosystems such as forests and watercourses, or artificial systems like factories or process facilities.

Using e-DNA to analyze biodiversity is often more efficient and gives higher resolution than traditional methods. Also it does not affect the species being studied, or its ecosystem. Invisible biodiversity such as microorganisms, unknown species or intra-species genetic variation can also be identified with these methods. This means that by analyzing the DNA in a sample, it is possible to get a more accurate picture of the biodiversity in an environment, compared to a traditional field inventory, where many species can be difficult to locate or identify.

We can help you with:

• Advice on how e-DNA can be used in your operations
  
• Metabarcoding aunt DNA sequencing
• Analysis of individual species with qPCR
• Metagenomic sequencing of e.g. bacteria
• Bioinformatic analysis of DNA data