Project:

Investigating Seafood Fraud Using DNA Barcoding

Students:

Courtney Huang, Nicole Buiciuc

Institution:

Stuyvesant High School; Millennium High School, Manhattan

Mentors:

Kathleen Nolan

Abstract:

Many restaurants and seafood markets are guilty of fish fraud. People need to be aware of when fish fraud occurs as it could include substituting an even more endangered or threatened species for the fish they think that they are purchasing. Through DNA barcoding and morphology we hope to identify fish fraud in New York City and other areas. We will examine at least ten peer-reviewed journal articles that highlight different aspects of seafood fish fraud using different molecular techniques such as mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite DNA. We will compare and contrast the techniques utilized in these papers, and learn the science behind them. We will design phylogenetic trees using DNA sequences and dichotomous keys using morphology of the organisms in the papers we are studying. We will develop an informative poster and a case study that would inform students on this topic.

Poster:

Team samples: