iBOL

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 Friday, Sep 3, 2010 •

Barcoding South Africa’s
biodiversity hotspots

South African and Canadian researchers are planning a 17-day expedition to document animal and plant species in the Succulent Karoo and other South African biodiversity hot spots.

Peter Freeman appointed
Executive Director of iBOL

Dr. Peter Freeman has taken up his new post as Executive Director of the International Barcode of Life Consortium. He will be based at the iBOL Secretariat in Guelph, Ontario.

Romania completes library of butterfly barcodes

Romania has become the first country to DNA barcode all of its butterflies. The 180 species account for about one third of the total European butterfly fauna.

Barcodes prove it’s a
shark-eat-shark world

Scientists have used DNA barcodes and the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) database to show that deepwater sharks eat everything from human discards to other sharks.