Barcoding Facility for Organisms and Tissues of Policy Concern - Centre of Excellence (BopCo-Ce)

Persons :

• Prof. dr.  BACKELJAU Thierry - Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences ()
  Financed belgian partner
  Duration: 1/1/2021-31/12/2023
  
• Dr.  DE MEYER Marc - Royal Museum for Central Africa (AFRI)
  Financed belgian partner
  Duration: 1/1/2021-31/12/2023
  

Description :

The Barcoding Facility for Organisms and Tissues of Policy Concern (BopCo) is a joint initiative of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) for the identification of policy-relevant biological samples.
BopCo converts taxonomic expertise and DNA know-how into concrete, socially useful results. BopCo currently performs species identifications at the request of a wide range of Belgian and foreign stakeholders, including federal, regional and local governments and agencies, research institutions, NGOs, associations, private companies and individuals.
The aim of the project is a feasibility study for the establishment of a centre of excellence whose tasks are (1) to serve as a national focal point for the identification of biological material on demand, using both morphological and DNA-based techniques, (2) to produce well-documented DNA barcodes of relevant taxa, (3) to maintain reference collections of barcoded organisms and the corresponding DNA barcode databases, and (4) to research and apply new tools and techniques for species identification and DNA barcoding.

Documentation :

Barcoding Facility for Organisms and Tissues of Policy Concern - Centre of Excellence (BopCo-Ce) : final report  Vanderheyden, Ann - Smitz, Nathalie - Vanden Abeele, Samuel  Brussels : Belgian Science policy, 2024 (SP3336)
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