Checking the eDNA of your waterway

Each species identified is given a health value and the average is then taken.

ADNA testing service designed to measure and map fauna in freshwater was recognised at Fieldays, winning the Growth and Scale Award at the event’s Innovation Awards.

Using a water sample collected by the farmer in testing kits, Wilderlab can determine fish and insect species, fungi, plants, mammals and bacteria using eDNA technology.

The Wellington-based business was established in 2019 by scientist Shaun Wilkinson and has since grown to a team of 20.

The technology used by Wilderlab has been around for years, but had been mainly confined to the research lab, he said.

“What our main value add was that we took it out of the research lab and into the world. We made it really accessible.”

Wilkinson said there is a huge effort to clean up waterways and understand their ecological health, and this is the only technology available to fill that gap at scale.

Chemical testing of waterways is well established, but DNA testing less so.

“What has been missing was that biological side.”

Wilkinson said landowners can use the testing kits to discover if they have threatened species on the property that may need protecting as well as invasive species such as the freshwater Gold Clam, recently discovered in the Waikato River.

“Where I do think it has a lot of value for the ag sector is stream health,” he said.

Water samples are collected and pushed through a filter within the sample holder several times. A preserver is then added to preserve the DNA within.

The sample is mailed back and analysed, identifying what species are found and their abundance, and a report is sent to the customer.

A farmer who has a waterway