Download Woese Nobel Nomination - University of Illinois Archives

Discovery of: The Archaea – A New Life Domain
Few scientists can lay claim to completely revising our view of life on earth. Carl Woese
discovered and described a new life domain, the archaea. Prior to this discovery all life
was thought to reside in two domains, prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Woese’s discovery
split the classification of single cell life into two distinct domains, the Eubacteria and the
Archaea. The now universally accepted “Woesian Tree of Life” is the cornerstone of our
understanding of the origin and evolution of earth’s biota and provides a scientific basis
for rational treatment of infectious diseases of microbial origin.
Description Summary of the discovery…
Using methods that by today’s standards would be considered primitive, Woese devised
an approach to “fingerprint” the 16S ribosomal genes, a critical component of a cell’s
protein translation machinery. Woese’s painstaking and penetrating analysis led him to
recognize that the microbe *** contained a 16S rDNA pattern more like those of the
eukaryotes than like other bacteria. Woese recognized the enormous significance of his
finding [Carl’s thinking} naming those microbes with a typically eukaryotic 16S rDNA
pattern the Archaea in order to distinguish them from all other bacteria. Years of
systematic analysis of 16S rDNA patterns from thousands of microbes led Woese to the
conclusion that the new-found Archaea were indeed a separate life domain. Although
Woese’s conclusions were controversial for many years, recent sequencing of the entire
genomes of nearly 100 microorganisms, including 11 archeaons has clearly substantiated
Woese’s major proposition and thus elevated Woese’s unilateral scientific contribution to
among the greatest discoveries in the history of biology.
The impact of the “Woesian revolution” has been felt across many areas of
biology and biomedical science. Woese’s discovery led to the current taxonomic
definition within the 3 life domains thus defining all of the major nodes and branches of
evolution. The Tree of Life provides the current context for our understanding of the
significance of lateral gene transfer in the early evolution of cells. The Tree of Life also
tells us what was, and what was not, possible during the period of time which is
unreachable by current molecular methods because of mass life extinctions over the eons.
The Tree of Life also has had a major influence on the science and practice of medical
microbiology. The powerful taxonomic system developed from Woese’s discoveries has
led to better understanding at the molecular genetic level of microbial infectious diseases
[Carl, we really need powerful details here]
We need a list of the most important publications supporting whatever the above
eventually says in its final incarnation
Disclaimer on accuracy
Carl questions
Impact: Taxonomy -> Universal ancestor – Context for reinterpreting evolution of life
Medical microbiology, genes responsible for microbial
pathogenesis, antibiotic efficacy, design new antibiotics on basis of new classification
scheme. Through his students
Definition of The Woesian Tree Not enabled the discovery that
Recognition of the significance of lateral transfer – major mechanism of evolution in
distant past
just taxonomy, but fundamental change in understanding life’s ancestry. Life could not
be traced to a single common ancestor because of the lateral transfer of genes is a major
mode of evolution
Evolution did not begin with Natural Selection. Life had to evolve to the point where
natural selection could work.
Unshakable
Inviolate