Skip to main content

DNA barcoding in Taipei, Part 3

Played a rousing game of linkurl:table tennis;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxZ-5wELSJM tonight. And by "rousing game" I mean to say that I was soundly drubbed by a Taiwanese gentleman (his name escapes me) who appears to be some sort of national champion. Even my scorching serves were parried with effortless flicks of his supple wrist. Though my game may have been tough, it was nothing compared to the game that linkurl:plant molecular biologists;https://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/22

Written byBob Grant
| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Played a rousing game of linkurl:table tennis;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxZ-5wELSJM tonight. And by "rousing game" I mean to say that I was soundly drubbed by a Taiwanese gentleman (his name escapes me) who appears to be some sort of national champion. Even my scorching serves were parried with effortless flicks of his supple wrist. Though my game may have been tough, it was nothing compared to the game that linkurl:plant molecular biologists;https://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/22227/ seeking to barcode the planet's flora must play. I learned today during the conference that while zoologists chug along, linkurl:barcoding;https://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53591/ more and more animal species with the use of the convenient CO1 gene marker, plant biologists are not so lucky. Firstly, plants from bryophytes to linkurl:angiosperms;https://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/18796/ do not play the CO1 game. The mitochondrial gene region that works so well as a barcode in animals is virtually invariable across plant taxa. Thoughts are that this may be due to variable linkurl:speciation rates;https://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/14251/ in plants as well as the common occurrence of linkurl:hybridization.;https://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/21522/ Those are just the realities of plant biology. So, after much searching for suitable candidates, plant biologists have come up with a suite of gene regions that might serve as effective plant barcode markers. It turns out that three or four regions could work as the plant DNA barcode, explained linkurl:Santiago Madrinan,;https://botanica.uniandes.edu.co/integrantes/samadrin.htm a Columbian plant biologist. Though a plant barcode is by no means perfected, he said, the effort to quickly and cheaply sequence Earth's plants is hindered by the fact that plant biologists simply cannot agree on which complex of gene regions to use as the plant barcode. Other conference attendees have told me that the plant barcoding community is mired in politics, with certain investigators positing that their own gene region complexes (and no one else's) must be the plant barcode moving forward. This game continues as plant barcoders lag behind their zoologist colleagues. The plant working group is scheduled to meet on Friday after the close of the conference proper. I'll do my best to sit in on their meeting to catch a glimpse of the tension that marks their efforts. Until then, I'll work on my table tennis game.
Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member?
Add The Scientist as a preferred source on Google

Add The Scientist as a preferred Google source to see more of our trusted coverage.

Meet the Author

  • From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.

    View Full Profile
Related articles background image
The Scientist Digest cover September 2026
September 2026

Multiplex Microscopy Becomes Easier with Encoded Antibodies

A new system that enables researchers to uniquely tag monoclonal antibodies for use in microscopy could help simplify complex imaging studies.

View this Issue
Rethinking ALS Biomarkers: From Discovery to Clinical Impact

Rethinking ALS Biomarkers: From Discovery to Clinical Impact

Alamar Biosciences logo
Best Practices for qPCR Assay Design and Optimization

Best Practices for qPCR Assay Design and Optimization

Bio-Rad
Beyond the Basics: Strategies for Single-Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics Analysis

Beyond the Basics: Strategies for Single-Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics Analysis

bioxcell
Scientist reviewing cellular and molecular data on a computer in a laboratory.

Building Translation-Ready Biomarkers with Connected Workflows

Danaher Logo

Products

Closeup image of a multi channel pipette dispensing pink liquid into a 96-well plate.

The ASSIST PLUS pipetting robot for affordable workflow automation

Integra Logo
Single cells in suspension

Rapidly isolate primary cells and make uniform single-cell suspensions with Corning® Cell Strainers

Corning logo
Abstract image representing cell membranes linked together.

CellBrite® Steady Membrane Stain: Cell surface staining built for real-time imaging

Biotium
sino biological logo

Monod Bio Licenses AI-designed Protein Technologies to SignalChem Biotech for Custom Discovery Assays