Enabling students to identify the world through DNA sequencing.

Wellcome Connecting Science’s Barcoding for Beginners programme gives school students the chance to carry out authentic genomics research, identifying living species from their DNA, much as a shop barcode identifies a product.

Funded by a Royal Society Partnership Grant and run with the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the programme commissioned a series of animations to explain the barcoding process and sit alongside its existing teaching resources.

• Help students understand the full DNA barcoding process, from sample to identification, so they can confidently carry it out themselves alongside their teachers

• Complement the existing Barcoding for Beginners resources with engaging visual content
• Make a technical, multi-step scientific method approachable for a younger audience

• Produced a series of 6 animations covering the barcoding process end to end
• Developed a visual style that complements the programme’s existing resources

• Broke a complex, multi-stage method — DNA extraction, PCR, gel electrophoresis, sequencing, and bioinformatic analysis — into clear, easy-to-follow steps
• Created fun characters and lighthearted moments to engage a younger audience