Cabinet apprised of MoU between Zoological Survey of India and iBOL

ZSI and iBOL have come together for further efforts in DNA barcoding, a methodology for rapidly and accurately identifying species by sequencing a short segment of standardized gene regions and comparing individual sequences to a reference database.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi was apprised of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in June 2020 between the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), a subordinate organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change and International Barcode of Life (iBOL), a Canadian not-for-profit corporation.

ZSI and iBOL have come together for further efforts in DNA barcoding, a methodology for rapidly and accurately identifying species by sequencing a short segment of standardized gene regions and comparing individual sequences to a reference database.

iBOL is a research alliance involving nations that have committed both human and financial resources to enable expansion of the global reference database, the development of informatics platforms, and/or the analytical protocols needed to use the reference library to inventory, assess, and describe biodiversity. The MoU will enable ZSI to participate at the Global level programs like Bioscan and Planetary Biodiversity Mission.

(With Inputs from PIB)