What sorts of DNA can be found in an urban environment? Last year I helped supervise Trinity High School students Brenda Tan and Matt Cost in an investigation of New York City apartments, sidewalks, and supermarkets with DNA barcoding. Brenda and Matt spent 4 months collecting and documenting everyday items that might contain DNA, and delivered specimens to Center for Conservation Genetics, American Museum of Natural History for testing; 151 (70%) of 217 items yielded DNA barcodes, including a feather duster (ostrich), a hot dog from a street vendor (cow), a dog biscuit (American bison), and a fly in a shipment of grapefruit from Texas (Oriental latrine fly Chrysomya megacephala, an invasive species in southern U.S.). Among other surprising results, the student investigators found 95 different animal species, 16% of human and pet food items mislabeled, and a genetically distinct mystery cockroach that might be a new subspecies or species. I encourage you to peruse the Rockefeller University DNAHouse site which includes their narrative and Q+A reports, spreadsheets detailing specimens and results, and high-resolution images, including of cockroach!
Following example of 2008 student-led “Sushigate.” Brenda and Matt’s DNAHouse study is capturing wide public interest, including stories in New York Times, New York Post, NPR, NBC TV, and over 230 media sites in 9 languages and 30 countries so far. If high school students can make original discoveries with important regulatory and scientific implications using DNA barcoding, then wide application to food products, products from protected and regulated species, detection of invasive species, and biodiversity surveys, including by interested public, is not far off. The most important for general public is food, and I expect to see growing attention on the part of regulatory agencies, distributers, retailers, and consumers to identifying mislabeled food products using DNA barcodes.
Very impressive application of the DNA bar code. Keep up the good work! If only this could have been done with out financial institutions.
“with our financial institutions”
I read the above post with great interest. I am very interested in the use of DNA barcodes to investigate general public food. I can imagine the creation of a non-profit watchdog organization that samples local consumer food retailers and reports findings to the public. What would I need, in terms of equipment and technology, to setup for this type of a service?
wow !
I find it astonishing that not only can you find 95 separate animal species’ worth of DNA on the streets of NYC, but that the different DNA strands constitute a selection of species that spans the globe. I’m less surprised than i am amazed – just another shred of evidence that each part of the globe can be connected to another via a few simple points.
What a great way to encourage young people growing up in an urban environment to explore the natural world. Great post!
I am really fond of studying the environment as well as on what is in it like the animals which can be rarely seen. It is really important to know the importance if this animals in which we could protect them from harm. And I really appreciate on what the student’s been searching for, in which they could get in touch with nature while learning new great things about it.
It’s a great job. This work will really encourage people.