Diet diversity: DNA metabarcoding unlocks potential for personalized plant nutrition

07 Jul 2023 — Researchers developed a scalable tool to assess dietary plant intake and diversity by sequencing DNA in stool, which they say opens the door for using breakthroughs in DNA sequencing to monitor and improve nutrition. 

With “molecular barcodes” – regions of genomic biomarkers – the researchers can identify a food species through its DNA sequence from the residual pool of food-derived DNA in human excrements. A similar method is used to detect plant DNA in environmental research.