National Geographic recently featured a story about a global project, started by Canadian evolutionary biologist Paul Hebert, to “barcode” all known species.

Barcodes are derived from the CO1 gene that produces ATP, an energy carrying molecule found in  every multicellular organism on earth. The barcodes are made up of sequences of 4 colors, one for each of the DNA bases (G,T,C and A, you all remember Gattaca, right?) that make up the unique 600+ character chain of the portion of the CO1 gene that Hebert selected for its commonality. Continue reading “Can Barcoded Species be Good for Science and Monsanto?”