Research profiles

The DNA Regional Cluster – a multi-party collaboration between Trent University, Fleming College, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the City of Peterborough among others – has created a Wildlife Forensic DNA Laboratory database. Used widely at the provincial and national level, the database enables the effective management of (endangered) wildlife within Canada including improving our ability to understand wildlife population structure, as well as enhancing the ability of researchers to track diseases in animals that are potentially lethal to humans. The database can organize and extract thousands of DNA from tissue samples in a matter of days – a task that would have taken two to three years only a decade ago.