The Barcode of Life

Dr. Paul D. N. Hebert, a population geneticist at the University of Guelph in Ontario, has come up with an idea that may help scientist identify species: match a section of DNA with a DNA database of known species. The Consortium for the Barcode of Life was formed to develop a DNA barcoding database that will link to identified specimens in the collections of natural history museums and herbariums. Field researchers could scan a sample of a specimen and compare it to the database via phone or internet.

Scientists have used DNA to distinguish between species for years. The key to making the barcoding system work is using a section of gene common to a large group of species. Too much variation of DNA units within a species could result in overlaps with the patterns of closely related species. A section of about 650 units of a mitochondrial gene has been chosen to identify animal species because of its limited sequence differences within individual species. Different genes will be chosen for plant identifications and for some animal species.

Link: A Species in a Second: Promise of DNA ‘Bar Codes’ in the New York Times

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:07 PM on January 27, 2005