Title: Making the Case Against Archaea | Scienceline
Headings: Making the Case Against Archaea
Making the Case Against Archaea
Disease hunters target an ancient form of life.
Robert Goodier • January 2, 2009
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Content: “I think that the archaea can contribute to pathology and to disease, but I don’t think they do so alone or in a direct manner,” Relman said. Instead, he believes, “They allow other organisms to flourish to a much greater degree than they would otherwise. But it’s a consortium, a group effect. It’s not an effect they are able to carry out on their own.” His hypothesis hinges on the archaea’s diet. Those found in humans and other animals are methanogens – they consume hydrogen made by bacteria and excrete methane gas. ( Not all archaea produce methane, but they are the only creatures that can – it’s one of the differences that sets them apart from the other two domains of life.) Thriving on the waste of other microbes, they clean house, which may allow disease-causing bacteria to multiply. Archaea have a so-called grandfather, Ralph Wolfe, who is skeptical they could cause disease. Wolfe, a microbiologist at the University of Illinois, earned his nickname studying archaea for decades, since before they were given their own taxonomic domain.