Carl Woese

Carl Woese (born July 15, 1928) is an American microbiologist famous for defining the Archaea (a new domain or kingdom of life) in 1976 by phylogenetic analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA, a technique pioneered by Woese and which is now standard practice. He was also the originator of the RNA world hypothesis in 1967, although not by name. He was born in Syracuse, New York.

Related Topics:
July 15 - 1928 - American - Archaea - Domain - Kingdom - RNA - RNA world hypothesis - Syracuse, New York

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With this new domain, Woese redrew the taxonomic tree. His system, based upon genetic relationships rather than obvious morphological differences, divided life into 23 main division all incorporated within three domain]: Eucarya, Archea, and Bacteria. Some feel the system is unduly weighted toward the microbial, with unicellular organisms occupying much of the tree. For this reason, the old system, which divided life into five kingdoms (animals, plants, bacteria, protists, and fungi), still remains popular among some scientists.

Related Topics:
Taxonomic - Eucarya - Archea - Bacteria - Animals - Plants - Protists - Fungi

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The acceptance of the validity of the Archaea, which are prokaryotes but not Bacteria, was a slow and painful process. Such famous figures as Salvador Luria and Ernst Mayr objected to his division of the prokaryotes, and not all criticism of him was restricted to the scientific level. Not without reason has Woese been dubbed "Microbiology's Scarred Revolutionary" by the journal Science. Yet, the growing amount of supporting data led the scientific community in general to accept the Archaea by the mid 1980s.

Related Topics:
Archaea - Prokaryote - Bacteria - Salvador Luria - Ernst Mayr

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He also conjectured an era before Darwinian evolution where genes were freely shared between organisms. Species formed when they ceased to share. This period was responsible for the fast, early evolution of complex biological structures.

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Woese was a MacArthur Fellow in 1984, was made a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1988, received the Leeuwenhoek medal (microbiology's highest honor) in 1992, and was a National Medal of Science recipient in 2000. In 2003, he received the Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Woese is currently a professor of Microbiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Related Topics:
MacArthur Fellow - National Academy of Sciences - Leeuwenhoek medal - National Medal of Science - Crafoord Prize - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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