HALIFAX, N.S. — Scientists are expanding a Canadian-born project to track the world's plant and animal species.

Researchers from around the world are meeting in Mexico next week to share information on the global attempt to map the DNA sequences of everything from tiny soil organisms to wild pigs.

Paul Hebert of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario in Guelph helped pioneer the unique technology and says it is being used by a growing number of agencies and governments.

Hebert says by taking a snippet of a life form's DNA, they can keep a record of it in a global reference bank using bar codes that is constantly adding new species.

The bar codes can be used to identify illicit goods at borders, such as endangered animals, and determine how climate change is altering a species' diet.

Hebert says the meeting will highlight the new uses for the technology and how they will extend the project into the plant world.