Get Involved!
More than 100 institutions from more than 40 countries are now CBOL Member Organizations. Join CBOL so that your organization can be a part of the Barcode Initiative
Join a Barcoding Campaign;
- Fish Barcode of Life (FishBOL) initiative, launched in June 2005, aims to barcode all 28,000 species of marine and freshwater fish species in five years.
- All Birds Barcoding Initiative (ABBI) took flight at its inagural workshop at Harvard University in September 2005. ABBI's goal is to barcode all 10,000 species of birds by 2010.
- CBOL’s International Network for Barcoding Invasive and Pest Species (INBIPS) is made up of researchers and representatives of government agencies. They’re exchanging information and developing plans for global barcoding projects.
Join a Barcoding Project;
Review our case studies to connect with research partners like you!
Starting your own barcoding project
Attract research partners by submitting a case study that CBOL will put on this website.
Use established Barcoding protocols & standards
You can participate in the global Barcode Initiative by using the following standard protocols developed by CBOL:
- Laboratory Protocols and Equipment Recommendations (pdf; 561Kb) developed by CBOL’s DNA Working Group.
- Data Standards (pdf, 30Kb) for barcode records in GenBank, EMBL and DDBJ developed by CBOL's Database Working Group.
Working Groups
- Database WG has developed standards for barcode records and is implementing them through GenBank, EMBL and DDBJ.
- DNA WG develops lab protocols and equipment recommendations for participants in barcoding projects. Their highest priority is obtaining DNA barcodes from museum specimens.
- Data Analysis WG has launched a competition to develop software and protocols for sampling, analyzing, interpreting and visualizing barcode data.
- Plant WG is conducting a two year research project leading to selection of the optimal barcode region(s) for plants.