More Taxonomy, Not DNA Barcoding

DNA barcoding is a term used to describe efforts to use the mitochondrial COI (cytochrome oxidase subunit I) gene as a molecular marker to allow easier and more efficient identification of specimens of known and unknown species. The Web sites of international barcoding projects (Barcode of Life, www.barcodinglife.org; Consortium for the Barcode of Life [CBOL], http://barcoding.si.edu/index_detail.htm) herald the technique's potential, informing readers that DNA barcoding will “revolutionize the task of identification” of species, allowing the identification of not only fragmentary specimens (a valuable application, without doubt) but also new species. The barcoding organizations further note that taxonomists have identified only about 15 percent of all living species over the past 250 years, and imply that the rapid loss of biodiversity worldwide adds urgency to their task. Large-scale barcoding will drastically accelerate the rate of species identification, according to the technique's champions. They assure readers that this work can be carried out by a cadre of technicians who need none of the high-level expertise of present-day taxonomists. DNA barcoding is thus portrayed as a way of counting all the species in the world, in the hope of knowing something more about biodiversity.