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- Works with fragments. Barcoding can identify a species from bits and
pieces. When established, barcoding will quickly identify undesirable
animal or plant material in processed foodstuffs and detect commercial
products derived from regulated species. Barcoding will help reconstruct
food cycles by identifying fragments in stomachs and assist plant
science by identifying roots sampled from soil layers.
- Works for all stages of life. Barcoding can identify a species in
its many forms, from eggs and seed, through larvae and seedlings, to
adults and flowers.
- Unmasks look-alikes. Barcoding can distinguish among species that
look alike, uncovering dangerous organisms masquerading as harmless ones
and enabling a more accurate view of biodiversity.
- Reduces ambiguity. Written as a sequence of four discrete
nucleotides - CATG Ð along a uniform locality on genomes, a barcode of
life provides a digital identifying feature, supplementing the more
analog gradations of words, shapes and colors. A library of digital
barcodes will provide an unambiguous reference that will facilitate
identifying species invading and retreating across the globe and through
centuries.
- Makes expertise go further. The bewildering diversity of about 2
million species already known confines even an expert to morphological
identification of only a small part of the plant and animal kingdoms.
Foreseeing millions more species to go, scientists can equip themselves
with barcoding to speed identification of known organisms and facilitate
rapid recognition of new species.
- Democratizes access. A standardized library of barcodes will
empower many more people to call by name the species around them. It
will make possible identification of species whether abundant or rare,
native or invasive, engendering appreciation of biodiversity locally and
globally.
- Opens the way for an electronic handheld field guide, the Life
Barcoder. Barcoding links biological identification to advancing
frontiers in DNA sequencing, miniaturization in electronics, and
computerized information storage. Integrating those links will lead to
portable desktop devices and ultimately to hand-held barcoders. Imagine
the promise of a schoolchild with a barcoder in hand learning to read
wild biodiversity, the power granted to a field ecologist surveying with
a barcoder and global positioning system, or the security imparted by a
port inspector with a barcoder linked to a central computer!
- Sprouts new leaves on the tree of life. Since Darwin, biologists
seeking a natural system of classification have drawn genealogical trees
to represent evolutionary history. Barcoding the similarities and
differences among the nearly 2 million species already named will
provide a wealth of genetic detail, helping to draw the tree of life on
Earth. Barcoding newly discovered species will help show where they
belong among known species, sprouting new leaves on the tree of life.
- Demonstrates value of collections. Compiling the library of
barcodes begins with the multimillions of specimens in museums,
herbaria, zoos and gardens, and other biological repositories. The
spotlight that barcoding shines on these institutions and their
collections will strengthen their ongoing efforts to preserve Earth's
biodiversity.
- Speeds writing the encyclopedia of life. Compiling a library of
barcodes linked to vouchered specimens and their binomial names will
enhance public access to biological knowledge, helping to create an
on-line encyclopedia of life on Earth, with a web page for every species
of plant and animal.
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