A year after Hebert outlined DNA barcoding, Burns used it himself to identify one such case– a species of butterfly identified in the 1700s that turned out to actually be 10 separate species.

Consider, for example, the technique called DNA bar coding, which is based on using short fragments of mitochondrial gene CO1 to uniquely identify and document animal species (Savolainen, 2005).

"DNA 'barcoding' allows rapid testing of nanoparticles for therapeutic delivery." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 February 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2017 / 02 / 170207105318.htm>.