Some days, when you come from work, you're surprised by a rather unpleasant gift sitting right in the middle of your perfectly manicured lawn. You know it's the work of your neighbor's German Shepard, but you can't exactly go banging on the door to demand a clean-up job without definitive proof.

Don't worry, though – soon, you'll be able to identify the canine culprit without a doubt, thanks to the International Barcode of Life project, which will make it possible to identify hundreds of thousands of animal, plant, and fungus species using DNA samples. And while sending your smug neighbor over to your lawn to pick up the droppings herself is sure to be a satisfying prospect, the project holds endless possibilities for both scientists and ordinary people. The project's developers hope that they will be able to release a handheld gadget for consumer release within the next five years.

"We want every kid to get one in their Christmas stocking," Paul Hebert, the director of the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding, told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Researchers at Canada's University of Guelph are currently working to create a DNA library, containing the "bar codes" for more than 500,000 unique species. Once the library is complete, individuals will be able to simply swab a blood, hair, tissue, or dropping sample on a piece of paper and insert it into the handheld device, which will search the library's records to identify the mystery species.

With the new device, you can even check whether you're really getting what you're paying for when you go to a restaurant. Does that tilipia you ordered taste suspiciously like plain old tuna? You might very well be right.

"In North America there is a 20 per cent chance you are not getting the fish you ordered," Herbert said.

Use your DNA-identifying gadget to find out the truth, and you might just score yourself a free meal.