NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The Canadian Center for DNA Barcoding will use Microchip Biotechnologies’ Apollo 100 STAR tool, which is used for sample preparation for DNA sequencing, MBI said today.
The CCDB, which is located at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph, will use MBI’s Apollo system in its efforts to develop a new method of identifying and discovering species that is based on short, standardized gene regions called DNA barcodes.
Through an early-access MBI buyer program, the CCDB will use the Apollo system, which is based on microscale-on-chip-valve technology that the company licensed from the University of California. It automatically performs DNA cycle sequencing and bead-based cleanup on microchips, which can reduce labor, lower reagent consumption, and reduce sample processing errors, the company said.
CCDB is a member of the International Barcode of Life Project, which aims to build a library of DNA barcodes for 500,000 “socio-economically important species.”
Long term, the Barcode of Life Network intends to identify DNA barcodes for all the world’s life forms.