Dr. Laurent E. Cartier and colleagues recently published an article in the Journal of Gemmology investigating how DNA fingerprinting techniques can be used to improve traceability, disclosure and documenting the provenance of select biogenic gems. This includes research on origin and species determination of cultured and natural pearls, species identification of precious corals. Such research provides a new options to increase transparency (through origin and species determination), help address fraud or illegal trading by separating protected from non- protected species and documenting the provenance of historic items.
The full article of this study can be downloaded here as a PDF.