iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

🎉 BOLDNODE is a new R package from BOLD Systems now available on CRAN! Built around the Parquet format, BOLDNODE makes it easier to work with BOLD data packages in R-based workflows. Learn more: cran.r-project.org/web/packages...

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

🎉 Exciting news! 🎉 Thanks to YOU, we’re celebrating over 2,000 downloads! 🚀 BOLDconnectR streamlines access to BOLD data by retrieving, summarizing, and transforming records, making it easy to integrate public data with your private records in a single, efficient analytic workflow.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

🚨 New feature alert! You can now download BOLD data packages in Parquet format, making it easier to work with large datasets in R and for better interoperability with downstream analytics. Visit boldsystems.org/data/data-packages to get started.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Active BINs are updated monthly using all COI sequences on BOLD, both public and private. Data on BOLD is private by default. Project managers must update settings to make projects or datasets public. See the Handbook for instructions: bit.ly/4d3GOeZ

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

📈 Monthly growth of Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) on BOLD Every month, as new species and sequences are added to the BOLD database, BINs are updated to reflect the latest operational taxonomic units. The total number of active BINs in the BOLD database after the September update is now 1,339,498!

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Do you use R and the Barcode of Life Data (BOLD) Systems? 🎉 BOLDconnectR is now on CRAN! BOLDconnectR makes it easy to retrieve, transform, and analyze BOLD data—all in the Barcode Core Data Model (BCDM) format. #RStats #OpenSource #DNAbarcoding #ResearchInnovation

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

💬 BOLD FAQ's Did you know? You don’t always have to start at boldsystems.org. Go straight to your favourite BOLD5 tools using these links: ID Engine → id.boldsystems.org Public Data Portal → portal.boldsystems.org Bookmark them today for quicker access! #DNAbarcoding #Biodiversity

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

💬 BOLD FAQ's Did you know? Verbatim fields store data exactly as entered by the user. On BOLD, key fields with controlled vocabularies also have verbatim versions. These fields help expedite record activation, so you can move forward with your submission—adding images and sequences sooner.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

💬 BOLD FAQ's Did you know? BIN assignments are based on sequence divergence and updated monthly. New BINs are only created from COI-5P sequences with at least 500 valid residues in the barcode region and fewer than 1% ambiguous bases.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

A study by Muhala et al. (2024) utilized DNA barcoding to identify the composition of the fish fauna from the coast of Mozambique. Photo: 📸 Hippocampus kelloggi: BOLD:AAF0667 (copyright Sara A. Lourie) Access the full article: 🔗 journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

So far in 2025, we’ve seen steady growth in BIN records, reflecting the continuous expansion of the global species inventory. August’s update highlights international collaboration in DNA-based biodiversity research, with the largest number of new BINs this month contributed from Costa Rica.

A bar graph showing steady growth of BINs added by month from September 2024 to August 25.

A bar graph showing new BINs by Country captured for the month of August 2025. It shows the top 9 countries where new BINs came from, with Costa Rica being the highest.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

📈Monthly growth of Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) on BOLD Every month, as new species and sequences are added to the BOLD database, BINs are updated to reflect the latest operational taxonomic units. The total number of active BINs in the BOLD database after the August update is now 1,326,560!

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

💬 BOLD FAQ's 🧵 1/3 Did you know? BOLD Process IDs are unique record identifiers that are automatically generated by the system when new specimen records are uploaded to a project and follow a standard format.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

💬 BOLD FAQ's Did you know? BOLD accepts sequences from many genetic markers, including: COI-5P, ITS, rbcL, matK, and 18S, as well as dozens of others. Connect with our team for support on anything related to BOLD 📩 support@boldsystems.org

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

🔊 Announcement The legacy v4 ID Engine will be retired on August 1, 2025. To ensure you are using the most accurate and up-to-date reference libraries, please switch to the v5 ID Engine today. Questions? Please contact 📩 support@boldsystems.org

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

🎉 Over 300 participants from 56 countries joined our BOLDv5 2025 Q2 event series. Thank you to everyone who joined and helped make our community learning sessions a success! Follow BOLD on LinkedIn and Bluesky for updates on future community sessions. #DNABarcoding #Community #Events #BOLD

Infographic of Q2 community learning sessions which displays metrics about BOLD hosting five webinars with 325 participants joining during months April - June 2025.

Infographic of a world map displaying markers of participant countries joining the Q2 community learning sessions. A total of 56 countries participated.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

📈Monthly growth of Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) on BOLD Every month, as new species and sequences are added to the BOLD database, BINs are updated to reflect the latest operational taxonomic units. The total number of active BINs in the BOLD database after the June update is now: 1,316,038.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

The GEANS project (Genetic Tools for Ecosystem Health Assessment in the North Sea Region) added 4,005 high‑quality barcode sequences from 715 species, representing over 29% of North Sea macrobenthos species.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Are you an R user? BOLDConnectR is a package that facilitates the retrieval, transformation, and analysis of both public and private data in BOLD. It was created because of the widespread use of R software by BOLD users, and enables the customization and repetition of workflows.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

📈Monthly growth of Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) on BOLD Every month, as new species and sequences are added to the BOLD database, BINs are updated to reflect the latest operational taxonomic units. The total number of active BINs in the BOLD database after the June update is now: 1,312,535

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Researchers added 171 high‑quality barcode sequences covering 50 of Uruguay's vascular plant species with voucher images to BOLD's public data portal. Read more about Uruguay's national DNA barcoding efforts as part of the Uruguayan Barcode of Life Initiative.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Researchers found that 10.5% of shark and swordfish products from species listed as Near Threatened, Vulnerable, or Endangered (IUCN) in New England seafood markets were mislabeled. #DNABarcoding #Biodiversity #Conservation #Seafood

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

South Africa is one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries, yet only approximately 16% of known land plants have been barcoded. Read more in our research highlight on 14 years of plant DNA barcoding efforts in South Africa.

Photo of an herbarium specimen (Process ID: KNPB335-10) from the Poaceae family collected in 2000 from South Africa. Record deposited by South African National Biodiversity Institute in BOLD.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

🧵1/4 📈Monthly growth of Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) on BOLD Every month, as new species and sequences are added to the BOLD database, BINs are updated to reflect the most up-to-date operational taxonomic units. The total number of active BINs in the BOLD database is now: 1,272,589.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

🧵1/6 🚀 We're thrilled to announce that recordings from our BOLDv5 introductory webinars are now available as a video series! Our 11-part series is now live on YouTube: buff.ly/xi4nyiq

YouTube icon graphic on graphic text, sharing that the BOLDv5 video series is available publicly on

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

🧵1/2 🎉 Over 300 participants joined BOLDv5 introductory webinars this year! High-usage BOLD users received early access, and all webinars were open to the public via registration links shared here and on LinkedIn: buff.ly/AMSDt2p #DNABarcoding #Events #Community #Impact #BOLD #Biodiversity

A series of graphics and texts sharing the impact of the 2025 Q1 community learning sessions hosted by BOLD.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

🧵1/6 Earth Day is here! You can’t protect what you don’t know — and you can’t know what you can’t identify. Identifying species from DNA and environmental DNA (eDNA) has become a core method for tracking ecosystem change, detecting invasive or threatened species, and documenting biodiversity.

Example of 3 databases that can be used in BOLD's identification engine

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

🧵1/7 Earth day countdown: 4️⃣ days To celebrate Earth Day, we’re highlighting how BOLD supports our understanding — and ultimately, our management and protection — of biodiversity. 🪲 A 2023 study in Nature Communications assessed species recovery in regenerating tropical forests.

Amastus mirificus species collected from Ecuador and retrieved from the BOLD data portal

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

A huge achievement! You can access CBG's public records through BOLD's data portal: 🔗 portal.boldsystems.org #DNABarcoding #BOLD

Search for institutional records from Centre for Biodiversity on BOLD's data portal search screen

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

🧵1/3 📈Monthly growth of Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) on BOLD Every month, as new species and sequences are added to the BOLD database, BINs are also updated to reflect the most up-to-date operational taxonomic units. The total number of active BINs in the BOLD database is now: 1,261,496

Line graph showing the increase in number of BINs in the BOLD database, with month on the x axis and number of active BINs on the y axis.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

2/4 This package enables seamless downloading of data into the R environment using various inputs, including process IDs, sample IDs, taxonomy, and geography. It also offers functionality to convert data into additional formats compatible along with analysis features. #DNABarcoding

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

🧵1/4 Are you an R user? BOLDConnectR is a package that facilitates the retrieval, transformation, and analysis of both public and private data in BOLD. It was created because of the widespread use of R software by BOLD users, and enables the customization and repetition of workflows. #BOLD

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

🧵1/8 A 2023 review in Molecular Biology Reports synthesized available DNA barcodes, reviewed DNA barcoding methods, and discussed future directions of the field. In part 3 of 3, we summarize DNA barcoding trends.

Fungal specimens retrieved from the public data available in the BOLD data portal alongside a measurement for reference

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

🧵1/2 Registration is open for the April BOLDv5 introductory webinar! ❓Description: This webinar will cover key updates to the platform from BOLD co-founder, Sujeevan Ratnasingham 📅 Date: 14 April, Monday 🕙 Time: 0800 - 1000 EDT / 1300 - 1400 CET (90 min presentation followed by 30 min Q&A)

Common kingfisher photo on a BOLD graphic, announcing registration for the April BOLDv5 introductory webinar.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

3/4 The latest version of BOLD has been developed with essential resources from: Ministry of Research Innovation and Science Canadian Foundation for Innovation Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

BOLDv5 has been developed with essential resources that empower our mission from contributions from our sponsors: the Ministry of Research Innovation and Science, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, University of Guelph, and New Frontiers in Research Fund.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

2/4 BOLD is hosted by @cbg-uofg.bsky.social BOLD depends on the leadership and support from partners that include: International Barcode of Life National Center for Biotechnology Information @naturalis.bsky.social Global Biodiversity Information Facility

BOLD is hosted by the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics and depends on its partners for key inputs, leadership, and operational support: International Barcode of Life, National Center for Biotechnology Information, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

🧵1/2 Our 2025 quarter 1 community learning sessions are coming to an end, but you still have the opportunity to join the last BOLDv5 introductory webinar of the event series! #BOLD #DNABarcoding #Community #Events #Learning #NatureTech #Bioinformatics

Text on BOLD graphic announcing the end of Q1 event series.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

🧵1/8 A 2023 review in Molecular Biology Reports synthesized the available DNA barcodes, reviewed DNA barcoding methods, and discussed future directions of the field. In part 2 of 3, we summarize select methods and technologies used in DNA barcoding and metabarcoding. #DNABarcoding #eDNA

Photo is from Centre for Biodiversity Genomics lab, showing an instrument used to prepare samples for Next-Generation Sequencing.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

🧵1/11 A 2023 review in Molecular Biology Reports synthesized the available DNA barcodes, reviewed DNA barcoding methods, and discussed future directions of the field. In part 1 of 3, we summarize what DNA barcodes have been used and/or proposed for different taxonomic groups. #DNABarcoding

Specimens that represent the species that can be identified through DNA barcoding methods

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

🧵1/3 Celebrating 20 years of BOLD! The BOLD data portal contains DNA sequences, metadata, and specimen images that have been collected from all over the world. Here are the top 10 countries by number of specimens (private and public):

Graphic showing map of the world, indicating the top 10 countries by the number of specimens (private and public) that are in the BOLD data portal.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

🧵1/2 Celebrating 20 years of BOLD! Since 2005, BOLD has pioneered accessible and scalable DNA barcoding, becoming the world's largest repository through user-contributed sequences, metadata, and specimen images.

42,326 is the number of total registered BOLD users (www.boldsystems.org)

List and bar graph showing the top 20 countries where BOLD registered users are located, identified by the country where users' affiliate organizations are located.

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

🧵1/3 Registration is open! ❓What: This webinar will cover key updates to the platform from BOLD co-founder, Sujeevan Ratnasingham 📅 When: 24 March at 0900 - 1100 EDT / 1400 - 1600 CET (90 min presentation followed by 30 min Q&A) ✍🏽 Register to reserve your spot: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

🧵1/8 🪲 A 2024 study in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution examined the geographic and phylogenetic structure of BOLD’s public DNA barcode database, focusing on Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles).

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

🧵1/6 #WorldWildlifeDay 2025 is here! To celebrate, we’re highlighting recent #DNABarcoding research that enhances our understanding of wild animals and plants Today, we’re focusing on 🧬🔬 methods to ID species, with a comparative study on butterflies, bumblebees, and parasitic wasps 🦋🐝.

Butterfly specimen retrieved from BOLD public database (www.boldsystems.org)

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

🧵1/6 ⏳ #WorldWildlifeDay 2025 countdown: 1️⃣ day! To mark the occasion, we’re highlighting recent #DNABarcoding research that advances our understanding of wild animals and plants. Today, we highlight arthropods—a taxonomic group that makes up most of the world’s terrestrial organisms. 🪰🐝🦟🐞🪲

Arthropod specimen photographed by the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics and retrieved from the BOLD database

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

🧵1/5 ⏳ World Wildlife Day 2025 countdown: 3️⃣ days! The UN's #WorldWildlifeDay celebrates wild animals & plants. We're highlighting #DNABarcoding research that advances our understanding of them. Today’s focus: Australia’s marine fishes 🌊🦈🐟

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

📢 BOLDv5 introductory webinar registration is open ❓: This webinar will cover key updates to the platform and include time for Q&A 📅: 19 Feb, Wednesday 🕙: 1300 - 1500 EST (90 min presentation followed by 30 min Q&A) ✍🏽: Sign up to reserve your spot: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... 🧵1/2

fern with text inviting to BOLD introductory webinar

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) @boldsystems.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

📢 Introducing: Community learning sessions – Monthly events for the BOLD community! We’re excited to launch monthly BOLDv5 introductory webinars, featuring key platform updates from co-founder @dnadiversity.bsky.social, followed by a live Q&A. 🧵1/3

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