PLoS Biology Community Page on Barcoding, iBOL, and CBD

This week's issue of the Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology includes a Community Page devoted to barcoding. The article developed out of the half-day pre-conference symposium that was sponsored by Canada's International Reserch Development Centre (IDRC) at the Mexico City Barcode of Life Conference. You'll see that the article provides:

• An introduction to DNA barcoding,
• An overview of the International Barcode of Life Project (iBOL), and
• A brief introduction to Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), the Convention on Biological Diversity, and how barcoding relates to each. It includes side-bar texts by three of the presenters in Mexico City who explored barcoding and ABS from legal, economic, and societal perspectives.

This article is an excellent short introduction to barcoding and you may find it a useful link to put on your websites and in your grant proposals. It's especially relevant to people interested in the social and ethical dimensions of biodiversity and barcoding.