Field-ready DNA extraction from scat using magnetic nanoparticles for non-invasive wildlife monitoring

field-ready-dna-extraction-from-scat-using-magnetic-nanoparticles-for-non-invasive-wildlife-monitoring
Field-ready DNA extraction from scat using magnetic nanoparticles for non-invasive wildlife monitoring

Data availability

All data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information. Primer sequences and steps for this protocol are detailed in the methods section. As well the data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RGPIN-2020-06401 to YL); Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Canada Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (specifically ConocoPhillips Canada, Teck Resources, and Imperial Oil included in this alliance) (CRDPJ 538213 to CDMF and YL); and Alberta Innovates (G2020000261 to CDMF). We would like to thank the Toronto Zoo staff for their kind assistance to obtaining samples for our work. In addition, we would like to thank Dr. Maria Cavedon for her help in obtaining scat and tissue samples from Alberta.

Funding

This study was supported by Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RGPIN-2020-06401 to YL); Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Canada Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (specifically ConocoPhillips Canada, Teck Resources, and Imperial Oil included in this alliance) (CRDPJ 538213 to CDMF and YL); and Alberta Innovates (G2020000261 to CDMF).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biomedical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

    Letizia Dondi

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

    Rahul Chaudhari, Natalie Schmitt & Carlos D. M. Filipe

  3. Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Jocelyn Poissant

  4. Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Marco Musiani

  5. Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

    Yingfu Li

Authors

  1. Letizia Dondi
  2. Rahul Chaudhari
  3. Natalie Schmitt
  4. Jocelyn Poissant
  5. Marco Musiani
  6. Carlos D. M. Filipe
  7. Yingfu Li

Contributions

N.S., C.D.M.F and Y.L. initiated the project. L.D. designed the project, conducted the experimental design and completed all experimental operations. L.D., R.C., N.S., M.M., J.P., C.D.M.F. and Y.L. revised the manuscript. C.D.M.F. and Y.L. provided the supervision of this project.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yingfu Li.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Dondi, L., Chaudhari, R., Schmitt, N. et al. Field-ready DNA extraction from scat using magnetic nanoparticles for non-invasive wildlife monitoring. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37759-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37759-6

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