An article in the New York Times Magazine about Carl Woese, whose work upended the idea that all forms of life and their relationships can be represented on a tree diagram, includes this rather nice hand-drawn image from a 1999 article by Ford Doolittle. Genes can be transferred horizontally as well as vertically, even between forms of life otherwise remote from each other. Is it still helpful to think of a tree of life? If one thinks of trees whose branches fuse, perhaps, but that may still misrepresent the potential for quick rather than slow, steady changes.Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Meet the family
An article in the New York Times Magazine about Carl Woese, whose work upended the idea that all forms of life and their relationships can be represented on a tree diagram, includes this rather nice hand-drawn image from a 1999 article by Ford Doolittle. Genes can be transferred horizontally as well as vertically, even between forms of life otherwise remote from each other. Is it still helpful to think of a tree of life? If one thinks of trees whose branches fuse, perhaps, but that may still misrepresent the potential for quick rather than slow, steady changes.