Dr. Verónica Rojo attended the ISO Technical Committee 190 Working Group 2 meeting in Aveiro last week.
Dr. Verónica Rojo, the head of our Analytics division, attended the intermediate meeting of Working Group 2 (WG2: Effects on soil fauna) of the ISO Technical Committee 190 in Aveiro (Portugal) last week. The meeting was hosted by the Instituto Português da Qualidade (IPQ). AllGenetics was representing the Asociación Española de Normalización (UNE).
Due to our expertise in the verification of ecotoxicological test species, AllGenetics has been leading the drafting of the document ISO/CD 21286 (General guidance on the use of DNA barcoding in ecotoxicological testing) since 2015. The goal of this Committee Draft (CD) is to detail a standardised protocol for identifying ecotoxicological test specimens to the species level using the DNA barcoding technique. Implementing DNA barcoding-based identifications in Ecotoxicology will help overcome potential misidentifications and/or the use of different cryptic species which may differ in their response to chemicals. Therefore, the ecotoxicological results obtained by different laboratories will be far more reliable and comparable.
In Aveiro, members of WG2 discussed the results of the first CD ballot and agreed on required amendements to move ISO/CD 21286 on to the next ISO stage. Work is now underway to prepare a revised draft to be discussed during the next intermediate meeting of SC4/WG2, scheduled for March 2018.