Ep 10: Tangling the Tree of Life
Big Biology
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The History of Molecular Phylogenetics
The discovery that genes can move between species forces us to reevaluate how good trees are as metaphors for evolutionary relationships. The book follows the lives and research paths of scientists like Carl Woes, who in the 1970s discovered an altogether new form of life called archaea. It also tells the story of Lynn Margulis, a scientist who proposed that nucleated cells form through the cooperation of bacteria and Woes's archaea. We talk with David about the history of these discoveries, how the effect or understanding of evolution and species as real things.
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