Russian geneticists found the solution – they suggested using fragments of mitochondrial DNA, which differ in various sturgeon species, and created a test system with a set of species-specific oligonucleotides.

These markers then are used for PCR (polymerase chain reaction), which helps telling to what sturgeon species the fish belongs. All female sturgeons will be marked with a microchip and have a “genetic passport”, which later will help finding which fish produced caviar. Wrong DNA sample will show illegal caviar.