AAPN member Applied DNA Sciences are about to begin ending a controversy that has been dogging the textile industry for years by closing the loop on traceability for Egyptian Pima using DNA-based genotyping assays for cotton authentication.
These assays have been used to verify fiber and will be extended to yarn, fabric and finished goods in an ongoing validation program. The Egyptian Pima developments join and expand a series of US Pima cotton assays performed within Applied DNA testing services and are based on work conducted over the past 3 years related to the validation of a known library of cotton cultivar standards.
It's a problem Applied DNA Sciences have been working on and highlighting for a decade. Their in-depth studies, conducted in 2009 and 2012, found that 80 percent of fabric tags were not labeled correctly: “100% Egyptian cotton” was found to actually be a blend of cottons, not solely made of the fine and long-lasting fibers that consumers associate with the premium label.
So how are they going to do it? Here's their president Dr. James Hayward explaining to the press recently; “Our cotton authentication platform of SigNature T and genotyping can provide a means for quality control and compliance in supply chains. Many products use cotton grown in the US and Egypt, and we believe that our system can provide a useful tool to enable brands and manufacturers to verify their products at any stage of the supply chain, that is more exact than other methods claiming to do the same without the same degree of precision,”
Amazing stuff, as always, from our AAPN members.