Blood, sweat and tears: non-invasive vs. non-disruptive DNA sampling for experimental biology
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Animal Behavior, Conservation Biology, Ecology, Genetics, Molecular Biology
- Keywords
- DNA trapping, eDNA, non¬lethal, fitness, animal behaviour, Capture Mark Recapture
- Copyright
- © 2015 Lefort et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2015. Blood, sweat and tears: non-invasive vs. non-disruptive DNA sampling for experimental biology. PeerJ PrePrints 3:e655v3 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.655v3
Abstract
DNA data are becoming increasingly important in experimental biology. For example, it may be necessary to obtain DNA from an organism before using it in a bioassay or an experiment, to identify and distinguish between cryptic species, or when comparing different morphocryptic genotypes. Another example could be the assessment of relatedness between organisms prior to a behavioural study. In such cases, DNA must be obtained without affecting the fitness or behaviour of the subject being tested, as this could bias the results of the experiment. This points out the existence of a gap in the current molecular and experimental biology terminology, for which we propose the use of the term non-disruptive DNA sampling, specifically addressing behaviour and/or fitness, rather than simply physical integrity (invasiveness). We refer to these methods as “non-disruptive”, and discuss when they are appropriate to use.
Author Comment
A more thoughtful and concise version of the manuscript.