Welfare webinar: Fish skin swabbing for refined DNA sampling

Skin swabbing is a method of obtaining DNA for genotyping by collecting mucus from the flank of a fish. It is less invasive than removing fin tissue and does not require fish to be anaesthetised using aversive agents. Skin swabbing has been validated as a refined method for DNA sampling in zebrafish and stickleback using behavioural and physiological measures of fish welfare.

For this webinar we are joined by Will Norton (Associate Professor of Animal Biology within the genetics and genome biology department at The University of Leicester) and Mollie Millington (Senior Research Scientist and Aquatics Facility Manager at The Francis Crick Institute) to share the latest evidence and practical experience supporting the adoption of skin swabbing for zebrafish genotyping. 

The webinar will cover the evidence that skin swabbing is a refined technique for collecting material for genotyping and that sending swab samples instead of fin clips for commercial genotyping is efficient and practical.

Speakers and topics

• Skin swabbing as a refined method for DNA sampling for fish in research. 
  Will Norton, The University of Leicester.
• Skin swabbing as a non-invasive alternative to fin clipping for commercial automated genotyping.
  Mollie Millington, The Francis Crick Institute.

Registration and certificates of attendance

Please register for the event using an institutional email address. Registrations will be reviewed in line with our terms and conditions and policy on attendance at NC3Rs events (PDF).

Certificates of attendance will be issued to all attendees who attend 75%+ of the session. Your certificate will be issued to the email address used to register for this webinar within two weeks of the session.