John von Radowitz, Scientists begin project to 'barcode' earth's 10m species, Irish Examiner, February 10, 2005. Excerpt: 'The aim is to have a record of genetic sequences that uniquely identify every one of the estimated 10 million species of plants and animals by 2010. Many extinct species may also be barcoded using DNA taken from museum collections. Less than a fifth of the Earth's flora and fauna have been named by scientists. The task of identifying and describing the vast array of known and unknown species on the planet is a daunting one, but vital to scientific research. Three new initiatives launched yesterday (wed) mark a first step towards that goal. Two of the initiatives will aim to gather genetic barcodes of all the world's fish and bird species. The third will develop an open-access archive of DNA sequences from specimens held in major collections around the world. The overall project is being coordinated by the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL), which will bring together experts from fields such as taxonomy the classification of living organisms and information management.'
Posted by
Peter Suber at 2/09/2005 10:32:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
