DNA Barcoding: a new tool with wide array of applications

DNA barcoding is a new term introduced in to scientific literatures by Hebert and coworkers almost a decade ago (1). The concept of barcoding alone is well-known to the public: a series of black bars printed on many commercial products (1-3) (Universal Product Code), which are used to distinguish different products. Advances made in molecular biology and molecular techniques late 20th century e.g. sequencing technologies, has inspired scientists to apply barcoding concept to all domains of life by using the unique nature of DNA for each single species, in order to generate a comprehensive library of living organisms on the planet earth (2, 6). Such an ambitious initiative would result in a global DNA barcode database which will be valuable for biological scientists, medical, governmental and legal agencies as a mean of identification (1). The first initiative for DNA barcoding was funded in Canada and later on several DNA barcoding campaigns came in to the scene. The International Barcode of Life consortiu