"To identify birds hit by planes, expose seafood fraud, [and] protect endangered species" — these are but a few ways scientists are now using DNA barcoding, Washingtonian magazine reports. "As the cost of sequencing continues to plummet, barcoding has become indispensable even in fields that seem remote from molecular biology," reporter Sam Kean writes.
The Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History's David Schindel, who is executive secretary of the international Consortium for the Barcode of Life, tells Washingtonian that "sequencing DNA is now like sending off a roll of film used to be." Because of this, Kean says, "the best minds in science can now concentrate on applying what they’ve learned about DNA to bigger problems, and barcoding has emerged as one of the more promising applications for both pure research and commercial industries."