Cracking the code

摘要

DNA barcoding is set to uproot the 'tree of life' and revolutionise the way we classify animals. It may also have massive benefits for wildlife conservation. Men in tweed suits poring over dust-covered glass cases of countless inseparable insects, producing endless lists of unpro-nouncably named, endlessly dull descriptions of vanishingly obscure animals. Whether or not that was ever a fair caricature of taxonomy, it certainly won't hold true in the near future, according to the Consortium for the Barcoding of Life (CBOL). Members of the consortium, which include university researchers, museum curators, field biologists, conservationists and government policy makers, hope to achieve something extraordinary: to produce the first complete catalogue of living things - the definitive 'tree of life'. And they plan to use DNA barcoding to help them.