PROGRAMM

It was long considered axiomatic that there were but two branches of life: bacteria and eukaryotes. In 1977, however, the microbiologist Carl Woese proved that the tiny organisms he was studying were not bacteria but an entirely different branch of the tree of life. Archaea share aspects of plant and animal cells, indicating that they helped make complex life possible. This discovery has upended our understanding of life, and yet, it remains little known. In conversation with MISHA GLENNY, microbiologist CHRISTA SCHLEPER takes us on a journey from the Himalayas via the Dead Sea to Loki’s Castle in the North Sea in search of this crucial life form.

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CHRISTA SCHLEPER is a professor of microbiology at the University of Vienna. Schleper is a member of the Austrian and German Academy of Sciences and received the Wittgenstein Award in 2022. Her field of research is archaea, microorganisms that inhabit many extreme environments and hold clues to the origin of all complex life forms, including humans.