Geneticist preparing environmental samples containing Elodea species

Dr. Damian Menning, Geneticist with the USGS Alaska Science Center, preparing environmental samples containing Elodea species to test universal eDNA Elodea sp. primers that can be used to detect all five Elodea sp. in aquatic samples. Elodea is not native to Alaska, and is the first known invasive aquatic plant in Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is DNA recovered from any number of types of environmental samples, including water, soil, sediment, and scat.