SCOR (Scientific Committee for Ocean Research, see https://scor-int.org/) has approved a new Working Group, “MetaZooGene: Toward a new global view of marine zooplankton biodiversity based on DNA metabarcoding and reference DNA sequence databases” (SCOR WG 157; see https://scor-int.org/group/157/) . The new WG is chaired by Ann Bucklin (UConn Marine Sciences), with co-vice-chairs K.T.C.A. (Katja) Peijnenburg (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and Ksenia Kosobokova (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia). The WG will facilitate global cooperation among researchers using novel DNA-based approaches to study biodiversity of marine zooplankton. The goals of MetaZooGene are to ensure open access to data and direct comparison of results from different studies, encourage standardization of methods for applied uses in ocean assessment, and accelerate progress toward shared goals of understanding zooplankton biodiversity and functional roles in ocean ecosystems.

Photo P.H. Wiebe (WHOI)

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