Carl Woese
Encyclopedia
Carl Richard Woese is an American microbiologist
and physicist
. Woese is famous for defining the Archaea
(a new domain
or kingdom
of life) in 1977 by phylogenetic taxonomy
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 1977, although not by that name. He currently holds the Stanley O. Ikenberry Chair and is professor of microbiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
.
. He received a bachelors in math and physics from Amherst College
in 1950 and a doctorate in biophysics from Yale University
in 1953. Woese joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1964.
tree. His three-domain system
, based upon genetic relationships rather than obvious morphological similarities, divided life into 23 main divisions, all incorporated within three domains: Bacteria
, Archaea
, and Eucarya
. Archaea are neither Bacteria nor Eukaryotes. Looked at another way, they are Prokaryote
s that are not Bacteria.
The tree of life
elucidated by Woese is noteworthy for its demonstration of the overwhelming diversity of microbial lineages; single-celled organisms represent the vast majority of the biosphere's genetic, metabolic, and ecosystem niche diversity. This is surprising to some, given our familiarity with the macrobiological world. As microbes are responsible for many biogeochemical cycles and are crucial to the continued function of the biosphere, Woese's efforts to clarify the evolution and diversity of microbes provided an invaluable service to ecologists and conservationists.
The acceptance of the validity of Woese's classification was a slow and painful process. Famous figures, including Salvador Luria and Ernst Mayr
, objected to his division of the prokaryotes. 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. The growing amount of supporting data led the scientific community
in general to accept the Archaea by the mid-1980s. Few scientists still adhere to the idea of a unified Prokarya; Woese appears to have been vindicated in his convictions
.
Woese also conjectured an era in which there was a considerable amount of lateral transfer
of genes
between organisms. Species
formed when organisms stopped treating genes from other organisms with equal importance to their own genes. Lateral transfer during this period was responsible for the fast early evolution of complex biological structures.
Woese's work is also significant in terms of its implications for the search for life on other planets. Prior to Woese, Archaea were thought to be extreme organisms that had evolved from the organisms that are more familiar to us. Many scientists now believe they are ancient, and may have robust evolutionary connections to the first organisms to live on Earth. Organisms similar to those Archaea that exist in extreme environments may have found a foothold on other planets, some of which are known to harbor conditions conducive to extremophile
life.
in 1988, received the Leeuwenhoek Medal
(microbiology's highest honor) in 1992, the Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology
in 1995 from the National Academy of Sciences
, and was a National Medal of Science
recipient in 2000. In 2003, he received the Crafoord Prize
from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
. In 2006, he was made a foreign member of the Royal Society.
Many microbial species such as Pyrococcus woesei, Methanobrevibacterium woesei and Conexibacter woesei are named in his honor.
In connection with Woese's work on horizontal gene transfer as a primary evolutionary process, Professor Norman Pace of the University of Colorado in Boulder is quoted as saying "I think Woese has done more for biology writ large than any biologist in history, including Darwin
... There's a lot more to learn, and he's been interpreting the emerging story brilliantly."
Microbiologist
A microbiologist is a scientist who works in the field of microbiology. Microbiologists study organisms called microbes. Microbes can take the form of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protists...
and physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
. Woese is famous for defining the Archaea
Archaea
The Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon...
(a new domain
Domain (biology)
In biological taxonomy, a domain is the highest taxonomic rank of organisms, higher than a kingdom. According to the three-domain system of Carl Woese, introduced in 1990, the Tree of Life consists of three domains: Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya...
or kingdom
Kingdom (biology)
In biology, kingdom is a taxonomic rank, which is either the highest rank or in the more recent three-domain system, the rank below domain. Kingdoms are divided into smaller groups called phyla or divisions in botany...
of life) in 1977 by phylogenetic taxonomy
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
of 16S ribosomal RNA
16S ribosomal RNA
16S ribosomal RNA is a component of the 30S subunit of prokaryotic ribosomes. It is approximately 1.5kb in length...
, a technique pioneered by Woese and which is now standard practice. He was also the originator of the RNA world hypothesis
RNA world hypothesis
The RNA world hypothesis proposes that life based on ribonucleic acid pre-dates the current world of life based on deoxyribonucleic acid , RNA and proteins. RNA is able both to store genetic information, like DNA, and to catalyze chemical reactions, like an enzyme protein...
in 1977, although not by that name. He currently holds the Stanley O. Ikenberry Chair and is professor of microbiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
.
Life and education
Woese attended Deerfield AcademyDeerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States. It is a four-year college-preparatory school with approximately 600 students and about 100 faculty, all of whom live on or near campus....
. He received a bachelors in math and physics from Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
in 1950 and a doctorate in biophysics from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1953. Woese joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1964.
Work and discoveries
Having defined Archaea as a new domain, Woese redrew the taxonomicTaxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
tree. His three-domain system
Three-domain system
The three-domain system is a biological classification introduced by Carl Woese in 1977 that divides cellular life forms into archaea, bacteria, and eukaryote domains. In particular, it emphasizes the separation of prokaryotes into two groups, originally called Eubacteria and Archaebacteria...
, based upon genetic relationships rather than obvious morphological similarities, divided life into 23 main divisions, all incorporated within three domains: Bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
, Archaea
Archaea
The Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon...
, and Eucarya
Eucarya
Eucarya may refer to:*Eukaryotes, organisms whose cells contain complex structures inside the membranes.*Eucarya, a formerly recognized genus of flowering plants that is now considered to be part of the genus Santalum....
. Archaea are neither Bacteria nor Eukaryotes. Looked at another way, they are Prokaryote
Prokaryote
The prokaryotes are a group of organisms that lack a cell nucleus , or any other membrane-bound organelles. The organisms that have a cell nucleus are called eukaryotes. Most prokaryotes are unicellular, but a few such as myxobacteria have multicellular stages in their life cycles...
s that are not Bacteria.
The tree of life
Tree of life
The concept of a tree of life, a many-branched tree illustrating the idea that all life on earth is related, has been used in science , religion, philosophy, mythology, and other areas...
elucidated by Woese is noteworthy for its demonstration of the overwhelming diversity of microbial lineages; single-celled organisms represent the vast majority of the biosphere's genetic, metabolic, and ecosystem niche diversity. This is surprising to some, given our familiarity with the macrobiological world. As microbes are responsible for many biogeochemical cycles and are crucial to the continued function of the biosphere, Woese's efforts to clarify the evolution and diversity of microbes provided an invaluable service to ecologists and conservationists.
The acceptance of the validity of Woese's classification was a slow and painful process. Famous figures, including Salvador Luria and Ernst Mayr
Ernst Mayr
Ernst Walter Mayr was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, historian of science, and naturalist...
, objected to his division of the prokaryotes. 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. The growing amount of supporting data led the scientific community
Scientific community
The scientific community consists of the total body of scientists, its relationships and interactions. It is normally divided into "sub-communities" each working on a particular field within science. Objectivity is expected to be achieved by the scientific method...
in general to accept the Archaea by the mid-1980s. Few scientists still adhere to the idea of a unified Prokarya; Woese appears to have been vindicated in his convictions
.
Woese also conjectured an era in which there was a considerable amount of lateral transfer
Horizontal gene transfer
Horizontal gene transfer , also lateral gene transfer , is any process in which an organism incorporates genetic material from another organism without being the offspring of that organism...
of genes
Gênes
Gênes is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Italy, named after the city of Genoa. It was formed in 1805, when Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Republic of Genoa. Its capital was Genoa, and it was divided in the arrondissements of Genoa, Bobbio, Novi Ligure, Tortona and...
between organisms. Species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
formed when organisms stopped treating genes from other organisms with equal importance to their own genes. Lateral transfer during this period was responsible for the fast early evolution of complex biological structures.
Woese's work is also significant in terms of its implications for the search for life on other planets. Prior to Woese, Archaea were thought to be extreme organisms that had evolved from the organisms that are more familiar to us. Many scientists now believe they are ancient, and may have robust evolutionary connections to the first organisms to live on Earth. Organisms similar to those Archaea that exist in extreme environments may have found a foothold on other planets, some of which are known to harbor conditions conducive to extremophile
Extremophile
An extremophile is an organism that thrives in physically or geochemically extreme conditions that are detrimental to most life on Earth. In contrast, organisms that live in more moderate environments may be termed mesophiles or neutrophiles...
life.
Honors and reputation
Woese was a MacArthur Fellow in 1984, was made a member of the National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
in 1988, received the Leeuwenhoek Medal
Leeuwenhoek Medal
The Leeuwenhoek Medal, established in 1877 by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, , in honor of the 17th- and 18th-century microscopist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, is granted every ten years to the scientist judged to have made the most significant contribution to microbiology during...
(microbiology's highest honor) in 1992, the Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology
Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology
The Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "in recognition of excellence in the field of microbiology." Named after Selman Waksman, it was first awarded in 1968....
in 1995 from the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, and was a National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
recipient in 2000. In 2003, he received the Crafoord Prize
Crafoord Prize
The Crafoord Prize is an annual science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish industrialist, and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord...
from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
. In 2006, he was made a foreign member of the Royal Society.
Many microbial species such as Pyrococcus woesei, Methanobrevibacterium woesei and Conexibacter woesei are named in his honor.
In connection with Woese's work on horizontal gene transfer as a primary evolutionary process, Professor Norman Pace of the University of Colorado in Boulder is quoted as saying "I think Woese has done more for biology writ large than any biologist in history, including Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
... There's a lot more to learn, and he's been interpreting the emerging story brilliantly."
See also
- Karl StetterKarl StetterKarl Otto Stetter is a German microbiologist and authority on astrobiology. He is an expert on microbial life at high temperatures.-Career:...
- George E. FoxGeorge E. FoxGeorge Edward Fox is a researcher at the University of Houston and, with Carl Woese in the early 1970s, was the first scientist to classify Archaea as a separate domain of life within the three-domain system. Fox and Woese also introduced the idea of a progenote as a primordial entity in the...
- Bacterial phylaBacterial phylaThe bacterial phyla are the major lineages of the domain Bacteria.In the scientific classification established by Carl von Linné, each bacterial strain has to be assigned to a species , which is a lower level of a hierarchy of ranks...
, the major lineages of Bacteria - Thomas GoldThomas GoldThomas Gold was an Austrian-born astrophysicist, a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society . Gold was one of three young Cambridge scientists who in the 1950s proposed the now mostly abandoned 'steady...