Prof. Steven Newmaster
Prof. Steven Newmaster

Integrative biology professor Steven Newmaster, botanical director at U of G’s Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, and Natalia Ivanova, researcher at the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding based at the University, were interviewed Sept. 29 by the Boston Globe‘s STATa website for health and medicine news. They discussed efforts by companies to use DNA testing to make nutritional supplements safer. Newmaster studied DNA barcodes and plant diversity; he led a 2013 study that found many herbal supplements contained filler products. Ivanova has tested gingko supplements for DNA.