ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

DNA barcoding

Imagine you have a shopping list with a certain number of items on it. You go to the store and pick up those specific items to bring back home with you. Similarly, DNA barcoding is like giving a unique shopping list to a scientist for identifying different types of living things.

Every living thing has a DNA code, which is like a unique barcode. Similar to how the barcode on your favorite snacks at the store helps the clerk identify what the food is, scientists use the DNA barcode to identify different species of living things like plants, animals, and microbes.

This is done by taking a small piece of DNA from a living thing, usually a gene sequence called COI. This DNA is then compared to a big library of other DNA samples to see if it matches with anything previously recorded.

By using DNA barcodes, scientists can quickly and accurately identify different species of living things. It helps them to better understand and classify the natural world around us.