A SA shark DNA project has made history as the first research to be entirely funded by cryptocurrency.
Kristina Loosen of Stellenbosch University will extract shark DNA from water along the South African coastline to identify shark species, a process known as Environmental DNA (eDNA). What makes her project all the more unique is that the funding comes from a new environmentally friendly cryptocurrency called SEA Token, launched in May.
The new virtual coin is similar to other cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, except it has an inbuilt conservation function. By investing in SEA Tokens, investors indirectly raise funds for ocean conservation via a 2% enviro “tax” on all SEA Token transactions, raising funds ring-fenced in a virtual “wallet” to fund selected research. The funds raised are distributed via a linked nonprofit marine conservation programme called SEAstarter, launched this week in the UK on World Ocean Day and billed as “the world’s first environment-specific kickstarter platform”. Loosen’s research project is the first to receive SEAstarter funding, selected from among numerous proposals.
SEA Token has a dual purpose of funding research and using its blockchain technology to build up a global marine science database that can be shared in the interests of conserving the oceans.
Loosen said she believed crypto “holds immense potential to improve funding opportunities in the marine research sector, which has been complicated and scarce”.
“I am thrilled that my PhD will be funded through the cryptocurrency SEA Token, since it shows there are people who are interested in ocean conservation also in this new technological area,” Loosen said.
SEA Token founder James Birchall said: “We’re extremely excited to support Kristina’s project. It’s potentially a huge step forward for species monitoring – it could really change the way we assess populations, movements and ecosystems.
“By this time next year, I think we will be seeing major moves forward in the speed, accessibility and reach of environmental data pathways, and projects like Kristina’s will play a huge part in that.”
The Stellenbosch project involves sampling water using hi-tech eDNA pumps that filter tiny DNA fragments suspended in seawater. Lab analysis then matches the DNA fragments with specific species.
Project co-supervisor and well-known local shark researcher Sara Andreotti said the bursary support from SEA Token would bolster efforts to generate more scientific research on SA sharks: “The SA coastline is among the top five global hot spots for elasmobranch biodiversity (sharks, rays and skates). Assessments of biodiversity in the marine environment, especially for sharks, are notoriously challenging, which limits data availability and hamper the conservation effort.
“Traditional ways to monitor elasmobranch biodiversity rely on reports from the fishing industry or ad hoc research expeditions all of which being time-consuming, and often expensive. In contrast, novel cutting-edge genetic analyses, using environmental DNA (eDNA), is rapidly becoming a non-lethal, relatively cheap and efficient alternative to traditional methods, for assessing local marine biodiversity,” Andreotti said.
The lab work would be conducted in Stellenbosch University’s Evolutionary Genomics Group laboratory, while fieldwork would be supported by South African eco-tourism and diving companies.
Conrad Mathee, a professor at the university’s department of botany and zoology, said the research team hoped to expand the study to other sites along the South Afrcan coastline “to specifically monitor the presence and diversity of various species of sharks”.
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