Description
Book SynopsisDNA Barcoding has been promoted since 2003 as a new, fast, digital genomics-based means of identifying natural species based on the idea that a small standard fragment of any organismâs genome (a so-called âmicro-genomeâ) can faithfully identify and help to classify every species on the planet. The fear that species are becoming extinct before they have ever been known fuels barcoders, and the speed, scope, economy and âuser-friendlinessâ claimed for DNA barcoding, as part of the larger ferment around the âgenomics revolutionâ, has also encouraged promises that it could inspire humanity to reverse its biodiversity-destructive habits.
This book is based on six years of ethnographic research on changing practices in the identification and classification of natural species. Informed both by Science and Technology Studies (STS) and the anthropology of science, the authors analyse DNA barcoding in the context of a sense of crisis â concerning global biodiversity loss, but also the
