Year 12 students dive into DNA to test food authenticity

Earlier this term, Biology teacher Karen Stephens with technicians Fenella Dansie and Rosie Brown, accompanied a group of Year 12 students studying DNA barcoding as an Enrichment activity to the Wellcome Genome Campus to meet scientists working in genomics.

During the visit students had the opportunity to see the largest DNA sequencing facilities in the world, learn more about genomics projects, including some that use DNA barcoding and meet people working in the field of genomics, with the aim of inspiring them to consider a career in genomics.

This was made possible through a Royal Society Partnership Grant received by the Biology Department to explore food authenticity in supply chains - specifically, whether the fish we buy is always what it claims to be. The project is supported by Ashleigh Williams from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, our valued STEM partner. 

During the project, students used advanced molecular biology techniques: extracting DNA from fish samples sourced from local shops and restaurants, amplifying it using PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction – a process that acts like molecular photocopying), and confirming results through gel electrophoresis. Successfully amplified DNA barcodes were sequenced to identify each species. 

When the sequencing was completed, students used bioinformatics tools to align their sequences with scientific databases, then constructed a phylogenetic tree showing relationships among the fish species and designed a scientific poster to display their findings in College. We found samples from a fish market did not include any endangered or unexpected species and continue work to produce DNA barcodes for samples from local shops and restaurants.

Students presented their findings in a poster format, similar to that used by early career scientists, to address the key question: 'Is fish fishy?', and to work out whether samples are correctly labelled by species, or whether, as other studies have revealed with meat products, could there be mislabelling within the supply chain.

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