Week 9 Reflection - Emerging Methods
This week the first portion of class on Monday involved a brief overview of the emerging technologies in the field of eDNA. I am interested in learning more about the microfluidic chips, because in concept they seem so simple and easy to work with. So I would like to find out the accuracy, and maybe watch an example of how the chips work.
The second portion of class was dedicated to a discussion focusing on Isothermal Loop-Mediated Amplification (LAMP), which would have happened on Wednesday, but we had a reading day this week. LAMP seems like it has the potential to make the field of eDNA more accessible to those without certain resources, like thermocyclers. Set up for LAMP can be a bit more tedious, but being able to basically run amplification at one temperature can open a world of opportunity. Again, I had questions of how accurate the technique is, but it seems from the lecture that the results are fairly comparable to current technologies. It was really exciting to learn about the burgeoning technologies we have in the field of eDNA, and I am excited to see what comes in the future.