Golden Dorado Research Program Update

The Golden Dorado Research Program, in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst, made major progress in recent months. A coordinated effort from IGFA Trustee Juan Pablo Gozio and Argentinean geneticist Dr. Eva Rueda to undertake an excursion on the Lower Paraná River in Argentina to obtain whole genome samples was successful. These samples required very careful preparation and storage as they were shipped to New York in a nitrogen dry-shipper where they will be analyzed by The Vertebrate Genome Lab at Rockefeller University. 

The project also made tremendous headway in collecting genetic fin clip samples. Thirty golden dorado were sampled and combined with previously collected genetic samples that will be shipped to UMass Amherst where they will be analyzed. Additionally, the sampling network developed by the research team has significantly expanded with the addition of contacts in Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia. We are excited about the progress made on this initiative now that pandemic restrictions have begun to ease in South America. Stay tuned for more updates as more samples are collected and analyzed.