Hi Ross and other interested parties

If you believe the hype that some people have been suggesting (eg. DNA
barcoding) then yes DNA will be the panacea for all our problems.

However, when we step back to reality that is not quite the case, certainly
DNA as currently used can be very helpful. It is usually far more powerful
when used in combination with other characters such as reproductive anatomy
and shell morphology, datasets that are frequently missing or only briefly
touched upon in many modern DNA analyses for molluscs but definitely NOT
all studies.

There is, however, an alarming tendency for many people including granting
agencies to view DNA as the only accurate and modern way to classify the
huge biodiversity of the planet and that other tools such as anatomy  and
allozyme electrophoresis are old and o'fay. It has been argued that these
techniques do not always work and so this is true, but ask anyone who has
used DNA, did it fully resolve the relationships of every individual /
population included in the analysis 100% of the time and the answer is
never. The point is that relying  on a single character to determine
taxonomic relationships is potentially fatal regardless of whether it is
DNA or  something else. Not to mention that you can not use DNA for fossils
etc.

Potentially one day in the future will we have a Star Trek tricoder type
devise and everything will be peachy. However, it is also highly possible
that a significant portion of the world's living things will be only known
from books, videos and a few specimens in collections, by the time that
happens, especially if we humans don't change our ways when it comes to how
we treat the environment and so forth.

So DNA can be a very powerful tool, but it is not the magic bullet, at
least the way things are done currently.


Regards

Stephanie



******************************************************************************
Stephanie A. Clark

Department of Biodiversity & Systematics
School of Biological Sciences
University of Alabama
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL  35487
Phone: 1 (205) 348 1792 FAX: 1 (205) 348 6460
Mobile 1 (205) 310 9942
email [log in to unmask]

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