Sept 17 : Researchers from the Smithsonian Institute are leading the worldwide effort to identify species in the laboratory and in the field with the technique of DNA barcoding.

Similar to the barcode that identifies an item at the grocery store, a DNA barcode is used to identify and distinguish biological species.

“DNA barcoding is emerging as a global standard for identifying species in basic taxonomic research, biodiversity studies and in government regulation. The Smithsonian’s scientists are important leaders in the Barcode of Life Initiative, and the National Museum of Natural History is demonstrating the importance of museum collections,” said David Schindel, executive secretary of the Consortium for the Barcode of Life, based at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

Each of the world’s estimated 1.8 million species is genetically unique and carries its own DNA molecules.

DNA barcoding rapidly sequences the DNA from a single, standardized gene on the DNA molecule. The technique can quickly identify species from larval forms or tissue samples that can sometimes be nearly impossible to identify through traditional methods.

“We need to take the biotechnology to the biodiversity. Whether you are working in a building with electricity, off the hood of your vehicle in the jungle or on a research boat, we have experience at all levels that we can pass on,” said Lee Weigt, director of the LAB at the Smithsonian.

The lab has developed inexpensive field kits for extracting DNA and Web-based training videos.

Recently the institute’s scientists completed barcoding North American bird species, with support from the US Federal Aviation Authority and the US Air Force.

Aircraft collisions with birds are hazardous; knowing which birds are most often struck and the timing, altitude and routes of their migrations could avert some of the thousands of annual collisions between birds and military and civilian aircraft.

Scientists use barcoding to identify species from blood and tissue on the aircraft.

“DNA barcoding is the newest tool in the feather identification toolbox and allows us to obtain species level identifications in about 68 percent of the cases that we submit for DNA analysis. That is a major breakthrough for this field of study and will benefit aviation safety on a global scale,” said Carla Dove.

The institute has also embarked on a Mosquito Barcode Initiative.

Mosquitoes are important vectors of disease, but even specialists have trouble distinguishing disease-carrying species from harmless species, which may be identical in outward appearance.

As such, better identifications will lead to more efficient control of vectors.

“DNA is a fantastic tool for sorting these things out. There are 3,400 known species of mosquitoes, but barcoding will reveal many more. In one case in Australia there turned out to be 23 species going under one name. Only one or two are probably vectors,” said Richard Wilkerson, a research entomologist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research working at the LAB with Smithsonian scientists.

The Smithsonian scientists are presenting the potential applications of DNA barcodes at the Second International Barcode of Life Conference being held in Taiwan from Sept. 17-21. (ANI)