Its the barcode, the barcode of life.

              A few weeks ago we wrote about a study which used DNA barcoding to analyze the contents of natural supplements. Today let's talk about the Barcode of Life project. The goal of this project is to have DNA barcoding information for every species on earth (yeah, that's a lot!). You might be asking "What's the point of this? I can clearly look at a giraffe and see that it's a giraffe." Well you are right in that respect, but the applications of having a genetic barcode for every species are very wide: information could be used to identify species in poaching cases (Is it endangered? What sub-species is it? What sub-population?), identify pathogens, plant species, the possibilities are very wide. Having information like this could allow researchers, conservationists, etc. to have rapid, specific, accurate identification of species within a few hours.

Nants ingonyama bagithi baba, sithi uhhmm - The barcode, the barcode of life

          DNA barcoding is still in its youth, however, the principle of the technique is sound. In essence, a DNA sequence which is common, but slightly different in every species is sequenced. The slight differences combine to give unique identification of a species, kinda like how all barcodes are made up of many black bars, but the thickness and spacing gives unique identifications. For some genes, the only difference between you and a giraffe is a few nucleotides.
              The scope of DNA sequencing projects is continuing to increase more and more. Another blogger, Nick Loman, has compiled a list of the biggest sequencing projects completed to date, as well as even bigger ones which are yet to be completed (see the list here). Lab automation is necessary for these large projects to expedite manual processes and ensure that the projects are completed on a reasonable timeline. At Aurora we are extremely excited to be a part of this continuously growing movement and can't wait to see where it goes next!

More information about Aurora: www.aurorabiomed.com