Why the ancient science of naming life is undergoing a high-tech revolution
In short: Taxonomy is the essential foundation for understanding life, yet it must evolve to meet modern demands. Discover how Kew, alongside academic and museum partners, is integrating machine learning and phylogenomics to accelerate how we identify and classify the world's biodiversity.
Taxonomy serves as the bedrock of biological science, providing the necessary reference points for all research involving living organisms. While Kew has prioritized this work since its inception, the field now requires a renewed focus to keep pace with global needs. By leveraging new technologies, researchers are moving toward near real-time species characterization.
The current initiative involves a collaborative effort between Kew, the Natural History Museum in London, and the University of Oxford. These institutions are deploying advanced tools like machine learning to uncover hidden diversity within existing natural history collections and to rapidly expand our understanding of the evolutionary tree of life for plants and fungi.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Beyond the Gardens: The Future of Taxonomy
- Also: Accelerated Taxonomy | Kew
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