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BiodiverseCity St Louis

 

The Sustainability Division is partnering with the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s DNA Learning Center and Webster University to host the Citizen DNA Barcode Network project at Missouri Botanical Garden. This program supports citizen/community scientists as they identify species, sequence DNA, analyze genetic codes, and upload sequences to a worldwide database. Scientists of all ages and abilities can contribute to this project.

Join us to contribute to biodiversity research!

 

“A "DNA barcode" is a unique pattern of DNA sequence that can potentially identify each living thing. With DNA barcodes, we can discover and catalog biodiversity on our planet using tools developed at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center.”
—Citizen DNA Barcode Network

Upcoming Events

 

Bug Collection Events

Sign up to collect ants, beetles, and mosquitos with us to use for future lab days:

  • Bug collection events are over for the season

Lab Events

Join other citizen scientists to process insects for DNA sequencing! These events are a follow up to the collection events that occurred in the Fall. During these workshops, Missouri Botanical Garden and Webster University staff will introduce participants to the "hard science" portion of DNA Barcoding. These events are for scientists aged 13+ of all levels and abilities.

  • Get hands-on experience with extracting and isolating insect DNA, using lab equipment like micropipettes, centrifuge, thermocyclers, and gels, and exploring DNA barcodes.
    Saturday, March 8, 2025; 9 a.m.–2 p.m.
    Register
     
  • Get hands-on experience with exploring DNA barcodes! Using DNA Subway, participants can look at the real DNA sequences from our Spring lab days and match the ATCGs of DNA with a bug database. This is a virtual event.
    Saturday, March 22, 2025; 10 a.m.–noon
    Register
     
 
 

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A Community Initiative to Promote, Protect and Plan for Biodiversity Throughout the Greater St. Louis Region