DNA Barcoding

DNA Barcoding: Perspectives from a “Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy” (PEET) Debate

Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820-6970, USA.

First & Corresponding Author: Vincent S. Smith
e-mail: vsmith@inhs.uiuc.edu

Status: Published in Systematic Biology

Synopsis

This 'point-of-view' article and the related two papers form the proceedings of a debate I chaired on DNA barcoding as part of the fifth PEET conference hosted by the University of Illinois between 20–23 September, 2004.

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Literature Citation
Smith, V.S. 2005. DNA Barcoding: Perspectives from a “Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy” (PEET) Debate . Systematic Biology . 54 (5): 841-844.

Authors Note:

In the spirit of the impartiality with which I tried to chair this debate, the published version of this ‘point-of-view’ article is neutral on the question of whether I oppose or favour DNA barcoding. My initial submission was somewhat more candid, but despite being written before I had received Kip Will et al or Paul Hebert et al’s manuscripts, the reviewers felt my text overlapped too much with arguments developed in Kip and Paul’s subsequent papers. In the spirit of full disclosure I make this original unedited and unpublished version available here:

Smith, V.S. 2005. Twenty-first century taxonomy: perspectives on taxonomy’s industrial age . Unpublished.

Figures from the Paper

Figure 1
Results of the pre- and postdebate votes from the DNA barcoding session at the fifth biennial PEET conference hosted by the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, 20–23 September, 2004. Ballot was by show of hand and the counts include minor discrepancies due to inconsistencies in the votes cast (3) and size of the pre- and postdebate audience, which gained between six to nine members by the final vote.

Systematic Biology, October 2005 (54:5)

Cover Illustration: The recent proposal to use short, standardized gene sequences as unique identifiers of species – known as DN barcoding – has generated both strong support and vocal opposition in certain biological circles. The potential impact of DNA barcoding as either a help or a hindrance to taxonomic research represents an especially polarizing point of contention. A debate on the issues of DNA barcoding was held at the fifth biennial conference of the Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy (PEET) in September 2004 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The debate was moderated by Vincent Smith, and involved Paul Hebert, the lead proponent of DNA barcoding, and Kipling Will, a vocal barcoding opponent. As a follow up to this debate, two contrasting position papers dealing with DNA barcoding are provided in this issue, moderated once again by a contribution from Smith. On the pro-barcoding side, Hebert and Gregory outline what they consider to be the beneficial aspects of DNA barcoding for taxonomy and other biological disciplines, where as Will et al. provide an opposing perspective in which they argue that DNA barcoding will be detrimental to taxonomic science. Neither set of authors has been permitted to read the others’ contribution prior to publication. Image © 2005 by T. Ryan Gregory.

Picture from the Debate

Picture credit: Kazunori Yoshizawa, Hokkaido University, Japan.

Last updated 25 Oct., 2005.

	Vince Smith (Introduction; practical demonstration; debate questions; closing remarks)
	Kip Will (main presentation)
	Paul Hebert (main presentation)