To BOLDly Go

Space may be the final frontier, and yet we still have light years to go before we fully understand the rich diversity of life at home. The current mission? Catalog all of Earth's multicellular lifeforms—tens of millions of species—in one giant DNA library.

Imagine this: just as you would scan a cereal box's barcode at the grocery store, the same thing could be done with any plant or animal's DNA to find out its species. It may sound like science fiction, but scientists around the world are working toward that reality. Their goal? To create an international barcode of life!

So just how are scientists stocking the library's shelves? Come with us to British Columbia and California to find out!

Edited by Katrina Pyne
Produced by Katrina Pyne and Josh Silberg
Videography by Katrina Pyne, Grant Callegari, Josh Silberg, and Tavish Campbell
ROV piloted by Nick Viner
Illustration of tricorder by Mark Garrison