{"id":285275,"date":"2021-04-22T09:01:05","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T07:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=285275"},"modified":"2021-04-22T09:01:05","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T07:01:05","slug":"portable-dna-sequencing-for-mapping-biomass-in-remote-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/portable-dna-sequencing-for-mapping-biomass-in-remote-areas\/","title":{"rendered":"Portable DNA sequencing for mapping biomass in remote areas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GenoRobotics<\/a> (Lausanne), a project backed by \u00c9cole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale<\/a> de Lausanne (EPFL), is developing and testing a portable device for taking DNA measurements. They are developing it so they can take on-the-spot DNA samples of plant species and map biodiversity, even as climate change causes it to shift. The problem with current methods is that DNA often needs to be stored and sent to a specialized lab in order to be characterized \u2013 which can be difficult to do when taking samples in remote places. The samples can also be tainted along the way, meaning one would have to go back to get another sample.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This device would allow scientists to extract and sequence DNA while in the field, allowing them to create more accurate maps of changes to region specific flora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GenoRobotics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Backed by EPFL\u2019s MAKE program, the GenoRobotics project is headed by two EPFL graduates, Nicolas Adam and Jonathan Selz. The two came up with the idea while on a research expedition in Madagascar to characterize lemur environments. The samples had to be sent back to the United States for analysis but \u2013 due to administrative red-rape \u2013 the samples took two years before they could be analysed in a lab. The two realized they needed to find a way to sequence and analyse DNA to avoid these lengthy delays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To speed up the extraction process, the technology uses a hydrogel developed by EPFL students. The hydrogel was originally designed to administer vaccines and contains tiny needles. It is a small, square piece of gel that – once pressed on a species – can use the needles to extract the DNA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our tests show that strands obtained this way are pure enough and concentrated enough to perform DNA barcoding,\u201d says Adam in , in an article<\/a> by EPFL. \u201cTo prevent the samples from becoming contaminated as they\u2019re extracted, we\u2019re developing a new mechanism that works like a stapler.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genome database<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The two are also looking to create a data base that can be used and accessed in areas where internet connections are unreliable. Sequencing a genome can require dozens of gigabytes of memory and the two plan to use DNA barcoding \u2013 short segments of DNA \u2013 where a single gene can allow for characterization. Once analysed, the idea is to upload them to the database where it can interface with existing, publicly available databases  iBOL<\/a> and GenBank<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GenoRobotics (Lausanne), a project backed by \u00c9cole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne (EPFL), is developing and testing a portable device for taking DNA measurements. They are developing it so they can take on-the-spot DNA samples of plant species and map biodiversity, even as climate change causes it to shift. The problem with current methods is that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1932,"featured_media":523870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8553],"tags":[41259,60590,39636,53335,60592,27509],"location":[52892],"article_type":[36684],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[],"class_list":["post-285275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital","tag-biodiversity","tag-dna-sampling","tag-epfl-en","tag-genome","tag-genorobotics","tag-newsletter-en","location-switzerland","article_type-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"An EPFL spin-off project to develop a portable tool for extracting and sequencing DNA samples in hard-to-reach places has recently launched. ","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Alex Davidson","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/alex-davidson\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dna-1388692_1920-300x169.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Digital<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Digital<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["biodiversity<\/a>","dna sampling<\/a>","EPFL<\/a>","Genome<\/a>","genorobotics<\/a>","Newsletter<\/a>"],"unlinked":["biodiversity<\/span>","dna sampling<\/span>","EPFL<\/span>","Genome<\/span>","genorobotics<\/span>","Newsletter<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 5 years ago","modified":"Updated 5 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on April 22, 2021","modified":"Updated on April 22, 2021"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on April 22, 2021 9:01 am","modified":"Updated on April 22, 2021 9:01 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1932"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285275"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=285275"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=285275"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=285275"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=285275"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=285275"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=285275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}