By CATE DEVINE
Scientists at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh have helped create the world's first DNA barcode for plants, making it quicker and easier to identify poisonous, endangered or illegal species.
The breakthrough agreement on a standard for identification comes after four years of intensive work with an international team of 52 scientists working in ten countries.
While DNA barcoding has been used successfully to distinguish among animal species since 2003, it has been virtually impossible to get any kind of agreement for botanical barcoding until now, due mostly to the complex nature of plant genetics.
Work can now begin on creating a central DNA- barcode reference library of the world's 400,000 land plant species.
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