When it comes to barcodes, we want you to think big. Barcodes on packages or in the grocery store are just not big enough, which is a shame because barcodes do a lot more than simply process goods and services (although those things are important too!). You can wrap your mind around a bigger concept; we have faith in you. The use of barcode technology has the potential to open up our minds like never before, to teach us about the mysteries of life, and – if Paul Herbert has his way – to catalog every single species on earth.
Ivan Semeniuk of The Globe and Mail writes, “If life on Earth is like a vast library – one book per species – Paul Herbert’s dream is to catalogue that library and reveal, for the first time, the full scope of the richness that it contains. His nightmare is that we are burning the books without even bothering to read them.”
What a noble goal! With animals going endangered at a record pace, fading into time’s abyss, it is prudent for humanity to know everything about them. That way, we might be able to prevent other animals from perishing. This is DNA barcoding, scientists using genetic markers to identity species. This type of methodology has formed the backbone of the International Barcode of Life. Herbert sums that up best: “One third of the living species on our planet could be gone by the end of this century. We will regret it a very long time in the future if we don’t do something. Obviously we recognize this is a giant challenge when you start thinking about it. But this is not science that can wait.”
At Thunderbird Technical, we support science that can’t wait and understand the importance that barcode technology has in making that science a reality.
Comments are closed.