Carl Woese

"Bacteria can exchange genes across species boundaries, challenging our concept of species."

"Life is old, older than we once imagined, and it has taken many forms."

"The ribosomal RNA is a molecular fossil record written in nucleotides."

"To understand evolution, you must think in terms of billions of years and trillions of organisms."

"Life did not arise once but may have arisen many times, with only one lineage surviving."

"Molecular clocks have allowed us to date evolutionary events with unprecedented precision."

"The study of life teaches us that diversity is strength and variation is the source of innovation."

"Microorganisms are the foundation upon which all other life depends."

"To find out how life works, you must ask questions at the molecular level."

"Evolution is not progress toward a goal but change in response to environment."

"The tree of life is rooted in bacteria, which gave rise to all other forms of life."

"Life is more interconnected and interdependent than we ever realized."

"The study of extremophiles has taught us that life can exist in conditions once thought impossible."

"We are, all of us, descendants of the same universal ancestor."

"Molecular evidence shows that evolution is a fact as well as a theory."

"Life is not something that happened once but something that keeps happening."

"The complexity of life arises not from complicated components but from the interaction of simple ones."

"To sequence a genome is to read the history of an organism written in DNA."

"Life is the most remarkable phenomenon in the known universe."

"The bacterial cell contains solutions to problems that took eukaryotes billions of years to solve."

"Evolution operates without purpose, plan, or foresight, yet produces remarkable order."

"The molecules of life are the same in all organisms, evidence of common descent."

"To understand yourself, you must understand the microbes that live within you."

"Life is a dance of molecules, choreographed by billions of years of evolution."

"The origin of the major groups of organisms is written in DNA sequences."

"Biodiversity is not just nice to have; it is essential for the stability and survival of life."

"The study of life teaches us that all things are related to all other things."

"Molecular biology has unified biology in a way that morphology never could."

"Life is ancient, and the genes we carry are ancient beyond comprehension."

"To be alive is to be connected to every other living thing through the bonds of evolution."