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The International Barcode of Life project (iBOL) has one overarching goal - to assemble the sequence library and the technology necessary to identify organisms rapidly and inexpensively. This goal is underpinned by the observation that sequence diversity in short, standardized gene regions (DNA barcodes) enables both the identification of known species and the discovery of new ones. By building an identification system based on digital DNA strings rather than on analogue traits, DNA barcoding promises a massive improvement in our capacity to monitor and manage biodiversity with profound societal and economic impacts.
Current plans call for iBOL to launch as an alliance of researchers and biodiversity organizations in 25 nations. Six nations will participate as National Nodes. They will focus on the collection, identification, and curation of specimens. The 19 nations involved as Regional and Central Nodes will additionally participate in barcode acquisition with the Central Nodes maintaining large core sequencing facilities. Finally, the Central Nodes will support the bioinformatics facilities required to share barcode records to all nations.
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