Abstract: There are a large number and variety of animals and plants in our country, including many kinds of valuable and endangered species. These living beings are very precious resources in scientific study. With the emergence of DNA Barcoding technology, it becomes easier to identify these species and find out their branch of the origin, even predict the evolutionary trends. In this article, it described many aspects of DNA Barcoding briefly, such as its principle, operation steps, the emergence of the technique, the development statues, application pathways. Furthermore, it listed some species which played important roles in the development of DNA Barcoding study. And it also pointed out the main existed key issues, contradictions and development direction. 

Key words: DNA Barcoding; Taxonomy; species identification; mitochondrial COI gene