The Third Domain : The Untold Story of Archaea and the Future of Biotechnology

"The Third Domain" is the untold story of how the discovery of a new form of life - first ridiculed, then ignored for the past thirty years by mainstream scientists - is revolutionizing science, industry, and even our search for extraterrestrial life. Classification is a serious issue for science: if you don't know what you're looking at, how can you interpret what you see? Starting with Carolus Linnaeus in the 17th century, scientists have long struggled to order and categorize the many forms of life on Earth. But by the early 20th century the tree of life seemed to have stabilized, with two main domains of life at its roots: single-celled and multi-celled organisms. All creatures fit into one of these two groups. Or so we thought. But in 1977, a lone scientist named Carl Woese determined that archaea - biochemically and genetically unique organisms that live and thrive in some of the most inhospitable environments on Earth - were a distinct form of life, unlike anything seen on Earth before. This shocking discovery was entirely incompatible with the long-standing classification of life as we know it. But as it turned out, archaea were not life as we know it, and the tree of life had to be uprooted once again. Now, archaea are being hailed as one of the most important scientific revelations of the 20th century. "The Third Domain" tells the story of their strange potential and investigates their incredible history to provide a riveting account of an astonishing discovery. "The scientific community sometimes warms slowly to a revolutionary idea. So it was in 1977 when University of Illinois microbiologist Carl Woese proposed that the very trunk of the tree of life that depicted the genealogy of all living things on Earth was in need of some serious rethinking. This shocking suggestion was entirely incompatible with the long-standing classification of life as we know it. But as it turned out, the fascinating microbes that Woese discovered - dubbed archaea - were something brand new." "This whole new class of creatures, many of which thrive in environments so extreme that their very existence has prompted scientists to reconsider the likelihood of life on other planets, comprise life's "third domain." Archaea are now being hailed as one of the most important scientific revelations of the 20th century. The Third Domain tells the story of their strange potential and investigates their incredible history to provide a riveting account of an astonishing discovery." "Tim Friend gives us a front-row seat to this adventure of modern science. Accounts of swashbuckling scientific exploration mix with compelling and clear explanations of the underlying science to yield a story of discovery you won't soon forget. Travel with him as he leads readers from the Costa Rica rainforest to the rusting hulk of the Titanic in the cold, black depths of the North Atlantic in quest of new clues to fill out a still fast-developing science story that has implications for all of us."--Jacket Friend offers the untold story of how the discovery of a new form of life--one ignored for the past 30 years by mainstream scientists--is revolutionizing science, industry, and even the search for the existence of life beyond Earth.