Researchers from the Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich ETHZ have successfully extracted the oyster DNA from the pearl, which allows you to track the origin and determine its age.
This is the first successful experience of extracting oyster pearl from DNA.
The results of the research are publicly available in the journal PLoS ONE, and the corresponding technology will soon be patented.
A team of Swiss researchers managed to extract a small amount of DNA from a number of pearls, as a result of which an "oyster-mother" was installed. Pearls were taken from the oysters of the families Pinctada maxima, Pinctada margaritifera and Akoya oysters, which are the most important species in the trade of natural and cultured sea pearls.
This two-year research project, funded by SSEF, was carried out with the goal of increasing knowledge about pearls and researching its DNA to determine the geographical origin of pearls.