Making Every Species Count
Building a Bioliterate World
What would it be like to live in a bio-literate world - a world where you could know, in minutes, the name of any animal or plant - any time, anywhere? And not just its name but everything about it - what are its habits, is it endangered, is it dangerous, should it even be there or is it an invader from somewhere else?
How could we use that knowledge to protect our planet's biodiversity and promote human health and well-being?
The International Barcode of Life project (iBOL), the largest biodiversity genomics initiative ever undertaken, is unlocking the door to that world by creating a digital identification system for life.
• Breaking News for Saturday, Jan 28, 2012 •
FDA adopts barcoding to crack down on seafood fraud
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is rolling out new DNA-sequencing equipment in nine of its major laboratories across the country in a crackdown on seafood substitution.
Highlights Report celebrates a year of progress in barcoding
Barcoding Life – Highlights 2011 – an iBOL-CBOL joint effort – documents a year of outstanding achievement by the global barcoding enterprise.
Scientists use DNA barcodes to sniff out the stink bug
Canadian government entomologists are using DNA barcodes as part of a campaign to prevent an invasion of Ontario by the brown marmorated stink bug.
Testing the waters for environmental barcoding
In the Barcode Bulletin newsletter, read how a California research project is helping to revolutionize the business of environmental bioassessment.
How iBOL Works
It takes a lot of different people with different talents to get the job done.
Read about global participation in iBOL and how it works.
Learn more...Building the Barcode Library
Currently:
1,505,939 specimens
146,380 species
Target for 2015:
5,000,000 specimens
500,000 species
Barcoding Campaigns
A number of campaigns have started to collect and register DNA barcodes from specific families and regions of life.
Learn more...Get Connected
Get connected with other DNA barcoding participants, scientists, and enthusiasts.
Learn more...