How DNA Testing Could Fell the Illegal Timber Trade

Interesting

@Gloria It's not actually expensive. For the service shown in the video it's about 75 CENTS per meter cubed for the DNA portion of the service. It also comes with a full verification of the legality including ensuring that indigenous people have been paid their licence fees. That costs about $250 per container of product which is worth about $45,000.

We're also developing spot checks and implementing screening programmes. We hope that with less than two more years of R&D we can make it so cheap and ubiquitous that we can lock out illegal timber products from legitimate supply chains.

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Thank you all for the positive comments and interesting in our work.

This is great news for the protection of our forests. Modern Science being used to save forests Ye.

Yea. Whatever works.

Always amazed by DNA testing... it's really awesome.

I do not think we know how destructive the illegal timber trade is, hopefully this testing can bring it under control.

Agree with Dianne - there will have to be some muscle in the follow up or it'll be thought a joke.

Do it - as long as you are willing to prosecute.

Sounds like a great idea to me. And, we all need to recycle - especially easy is recycling paper. I see SO MUCH WASTE!

Would you believe they are adding a growing medium to saplings for faster growth, faster harvest. Not good at all. The practice started, as far as we can find out, about 40 years ago. Lumber now warps readily because the tree doesn't have the time to mature as it should. Buy more nails/screws.