A single splinter of wood can now be traced back, via its DNA fingerprint, to the site of its parent tree on the other side of the world with a powerful new tool designed to stop illegal logging. A Singapore company, Double Helix Tracking Technologies, is attempting to get its wood tracking method adopted by the federal government, which pledged during the election campaign to crack down on illegal timber imports.
Each tree, like each human or animal, has a unique signature, but groves of trees are usually related to each other like an extended family containing grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. This allows researchers to cross-reference one log's DNA pattern with an existing database of sensitive logging regions around the world.
For the full article, click
here.
No comments:
Post a Comment