In the News: Fish DNA Extraction by Biology Students Highlighted in NBC 5 Report on Seafood Fraud

The results are in—and, as predicted, it’s not good news for red snapper.

NBC 5 Chicago’s report on fish DNA extraction and testing by Dr. Irina Calin-Jageman’s molecular cellular biology classes aired on Nov. 26. The report, entitled “Seafood Fraud,” confirmed the findings of previous studies that restaurant fish labeled red snapper are almost always a different—and cheaper—species. In this case, the 10 samples from sushi restaurants submitted for testing by DU students turned out to be tilapia, even though the restaurants identified them as red snapper.

Additionally, white and “super white” tuna samples turned out to be escolar, an oily fish that can cause gastrointestinal illness in some people who consume it.

In total, students across two classes extracted DNA from 84 fish samples and found that 21 were mislabeled.

Dr. Irina Calin-Jageman and several DU students were interviewed for the television news piece, which was produced by the NBC 5 Responds consumer protection news division. A crew from NBC 5 visited Dominican in October and November to document the fish DNA testing process, from extraction in the classroom to the sharing of results, which were provided by a DNA sequencing lab in Wheeling.  

Watch the full news report here.