Rita Levi-Montalcini is not the only science great who passed away last week. Carl R. Woese, who discovered archaebacteria, died December 30. Up until about 30 years ago, it was thought that all life could be classified as either prokaryotes (simple single-celled organisms without a nucleus - essentially, bacteria) or eukaryotes (organisms ranging from single-celled to the very complex - like us - whose cells contain a nucleus). In 1980, Woese’s research uncovered a previously unknown third domain of life: archaebacteria, or archaea (as it’s now, less confusingly, known). Archaebacteria are also prokaryotes, but differ from bacteria in fundamental ways related to their biochemistry and the structure of their cell wall. Despite their superficial similarity with bacteria, they are, surprisingly, as closely related to eukaryotes as they are to prokaryotes. They are thought to be more ancient than either of the other domains of life, and indeed their unique biochemistry is suited to the conditions of life on early Earth. Archaea are the missing link needed to better understand the evolution of life on Earth: comparing different aspects of the three domains of life helps us pin down when they diverged and what their common ancestor (the ancestor of all life) must have looked like. Scientific American is making a long (and, admittedly, rather dense) article that Woese penned in 1981 describing his discovery available for a limited time. So what are you still doing here? Go slog through it.
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Rita Levi-Montalcini is not the only science great who passed away last week. Carl R. Woese, who discovered archaebacteria, died December 30.

Up until about 30 years ago, it was thought that all life could be classified as either prokaryotes (simple single-celled organisms without a nucleus - essentially, bacteria) or eukaryotes (organisms ranging from single-celled to the very complex - like us - whose cells contain a nucleus). In 1980, Woese’s research uncovered a previously unknown third domain of life: archaebacteria, or archaea (as it’s now, less confusingly, known). Archaebacteria are also prokaryotes, but differ from bacteria in fundamental ways related to their biochemistry and the structure of their cell wall. Despite their superficial similarity with bacteria, they are, surprisingly, as closely related to eukaryotes as they are to prokaryotes.

They are thought to be more ancient than either of the other domains of life, and indeed their unique biochemistry is suited to the conditions of life on early Earth. Archaea are the missing link needed to better understand the evolution of life on Earth: comparing different aspects of the three domains of life helps us pin down when they diverged and what their common ancestor (the ancestor of all life) must have looked like.

Scientific American is making a long (and, admittedly, rather dense) article that Woese penned in 1981 describing his discovery available for a limited time. So what are you still doing here? Go slog through it.

Source: scientificamerican.com

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