Virginia Tech Researcher Proposes New Genome-Based Naming System

February 24, 2014

Image Caption: Boris Vinatzer has developed a naming convention based on genome sequencing to enhance the way organisms are classified. Credit: Virginia Tech

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online

A new naming system proposed by one Virginia Tech scientist proposes moving beyond the current biological naming system and supplementing it with a new classification method based on an organisms genome sequence.

The new method was developed by Boris Vinatzer, an associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science, and he believes that it will create a universal language that will allow biologists to communicate about various types of life on Earth with previously unavailable specificity.

Vinatzer describes his work in the Friday edition of the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, and said that switching to a taxonomy based on the genetic sequence of each individual creature will lead to the creation of a more precise, robust and informative name for animals, plants, and other forms of living organisms.

In a statement, he said that the new system builds upon the work developed by Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus over two centuries ago, explaining that recent progress in genome sequencing technology allows researchers to distinguish between any bacteria, plant, or animal at a very low cost. The limitation of the Linnaeus system is the absence of a method to name the sequenced organisms with precision.

Vinatzer clarifies that he does not propose changing the naming conventions of the currently-used biological classification system. Instead, his new system aims only to add additional information in order to classify organisms within named species, and to more rapidly identify new ones since the process depends on the organisms DNA.

A genome-based classification system could be of great use to public health officials, given the ever-present threat posed by biological agents in this day and age. In his research, the Virginia Tech professor used the anthrax strain which surfaced following the September 11 terror attacks in order to demonstrate the limits of the Linnaeus system.

Weaponized anthrax frustrated officials as the powder found its way to offices in the United States and the ensuing investigation took months for law enforcement to identify the origin of the original pathogen as the Ames strain, the university explained. More than 1,200 strains of anthrax or Bacillus anthracis exist. Each one possesses an arbitrary name chosen by researchers that does nothing to illuminate genetic similarities.

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Virginia Tech Researcher Proposes New Genome-Based Naming System