{"id":756,"date":"2025-11-15T16:15:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T16:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bioscan.life\/bugquest\/?page_id=756"},"modified":"2026-04-08T08:22:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:22:45","slug":"what-is-dna-barcoding","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bioscan.life\/bugquest\/discover\/what-is-dna-barcoding\/","title":{"rendered":"What is DNA barcoding?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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What is a DNA barcode?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The easiest way to e<\/span>xplain<\/span> a DNA barcode is to think of it as a genetic fingerprint for a species. <\/span>Scientists<\/span> read<\/span> a <\/span>tiny piece of<\/span> DNA \u2013 the \u2018barcode\u2019 region of cytochrome c oxidase 1 (COI) \u2013 and compare<\/span> it to a <\/span>big library of barcodes<\/span> to<\/span> see which<\/span> species <\/span>it matches<\/span>. COI is the most common barcode<\/span> type<\/span> used for <\/span>animals because it <\/span>stays mostly the same <\/span>within a species (<\/span>for example,<\/span> all<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>human<\/span> share<\/span> the same barcode) but <\/span>is <\/span>different between species (<\/span>a<\/span> human barcode is different from a chimpanzee <\/span>on<\/span>e).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Unknown Specimen<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Extract DNA Barcode<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Compare to Library<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Identify Species<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Why call it a barcode?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The id<\/span>ea cam<\/span>e from<\/span> Canadian <\/span>researcher Paul<\/span> Hebert<\/span>. <\/span><\/span>He once explaine<\/span>d<\/span><\/span><\/a>, \u201cI was in a <\/span>supermarket,<\/span> a<\/span>nd an idea starte<\/span>d to deve<\/span>lop in<\/span> my mind as I walked through the aisles: what if a segment of DNA could be used to differentiate between species? Just 13 lines on the supermarket barcodes were being used to <\/span>identify<\/span> everything around me. <\/span>What<\/span> if we could <\/span>identify<\/span> plants, <\/span>animals,<\/span> and fungi in the same <\/span>way?\u201d<\/span> That idea became DNA <\/span>barcoding<\/span> \u2013 <\/span>a<\/span>nd that\u2019s how DNA barcoding got its name!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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What are<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Uses for DNA barcodes?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn more about life around us\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWhen you look at the bug on the right, your first thought might be \"Oh, that's cool!\" but then most people wonder \"...what is it?\" It's natural to want to name things we find. DNA barcodes help us identify species, giving people a sense of connection to nature. If you\u2019re lucky, you might even discover a brand-new species! \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIdentify bugs at any life stage or size\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDNA barcodes can match eggs, larvae, and adults from the same species \u2013 even tiny ones. Sometimes shipments of food, flowers, or lumber get held up at the border because inspectors find evidence of insects that could be invasive. Traditional identification can take weeks, but DNA barcoding can provide answers quickly. \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCheck What\u2019s in Our Food and Other Products\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIt can be hard to identify parts of animals, especially once food is cooked. For example, an expensive cod fillet might look the same as a cheaper pollock \u2013 can you tell the difference? DNA barcodes can help identify these items accurately and also protect endangered species. \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Species:<\/strong> Caridotis vitreata
<\/em>This is a beetle (Coleoptera) from Costa Rica, part of a group commonly called tortoise beetles because of how they walk on their short legs.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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from DNA barcoding to<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Metabarcoding\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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DNA barcoding works when we have one organism at a time to test. But what if a bottle contains hundreds or thousands of bugs mixed together, like everything caught in a Malaise trap? That\u2019s where metabarcoding <\/em>comes in.<\/p>

Metabarcoding uses the same barcode region of DNA, but instead of processing each organism separately, scientists extract all the DNA from a mixed bottle at once. Computers then sort the DNA sequences and match them to known species in the reference library.<\/p>

This allows researchers to:<\/p>

  • Identify all species in a bottle at the same time<\/li>
  • Work with organisms that are tiny, damaged, or impossible to sort by hand<\/li>
  • Understand whole communities and ecosystems, not just single species<\/li>
  • It\u2019s the method used in BugQuest, which is how we\u2019re able to run the program at such a large scale!<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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    Last Updated on April 8, 2026 at 8:22am<\/span> by Buggy<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What is a DNA barcode? The easiest way to explain a DNA barcode is to think of it as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":696,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"unboxed","site-sidebar-style":"unboxed","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-756","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bioscan.life\/bugquest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bioscan.life\/bugquest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bioscan.life\/bugquest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bioscan.life\/bugquest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bioscan.life\/bugquest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/bioscan.life\/bugquest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1830,"href":"https:\/\/bioscan.life\/bugquest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/756\/revisions\/1830"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bioscan.life\/bugquest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bioscan.life\/bugquest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}