The vast majority of people who have heard of environmental DNA (e-DNA) usually associate this with water samples. By filtering water through a fine-mesh filter, we can collect DNA residues floating around in the water, and with genetic analyses we can determine which species it comes from.

NINA offers our own e-DNA kit for taking water samples in rivers and lakes. With this simple kit, anyone can collect e-DNA samples they submit for analysis at NINA. If you want to use our e-DNA analyses, please contact Frode Fossøy or Rolf Sivertsgård.

We use species-specific markers to detect individual species and general-species markers to describe the species diversity of species groups in the aquatic environment. Species-specific analyses use a genetic marker that is only found in the species we are looking for using a qPCR or digital-PCR machine. General-species analyses use a genetic marker found in many species, and we often want to investigate a specific group such as fish, amphibians, insects or mammals. We then use a DNA metabarcoding analysis (DNA metabarcoding) where we read millions of short DNA fragments that we then compare with a reference database to determine which species each DNA fragment originates from.