ARC funded Research Assistant and Part time honours student (aDNA lab)
Honours Project:
DNA Extraction and
Quantitation of Biological Samples – focusing on wildlife forensics seisures.
Biological samples, such as skin, fluids, bone etc. undergo a variety of treatments during “processing” including drying, crystallisation, and smoking. These treatments will drastically affect the quality and quantity of DNA. If DNA from these kinds of substrates are to be used in forensic casework it is prudent to optimise protocols for DNA recovery. For many of these substrates it is unknown if any DNA still exists. This research will test different extraction and quantitation methods on numerous samples such as Bear bile, Minke whales, bone artefacts and snake skin.
Quantitative PCR will be used to determine amounts of mitochondrial DNA in a sample and which extraction method is optimal for given sample “types”. The recovery of nuclear DNA will also be tested as it may allow amplification of nuclear loci, such as STR’s, to occur.
These protocols will assist
laboratories in firstly determining if a sample is suitable for DNA anaylsis
and secondly to employ a protocol best suited to recovery and amplification of
DNA.