Editing Three-domain system (section)

==Background==
Woese argued, on the basis of differences in [[16S ribosomal RNA|16S rRNA]] [[gene]]s, that bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes each arose separately from an ancestor with poorly developed [[genetics|genetic]] machinery, often called a [[progenote]]. To reflect these primary lines of descent, he treated each as a domain, divided into several different [[kingdom (biology)|kingdoms]]. Originally his split of the prokaryotes was into ''Eubacteria'' (now ''Bacteria'') and ''Archaebacteria'' (now ''Archaea'').<ref name="pmid270744">{{cite journal |vauthors=Woese CR, Fox GE |date=November 1977 |title=Phylogenetic structure of the prokaryotic domain: the primary kingdoms |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=74 |issue=11 |pages=5088–90 |bibcode=1977PNAS...74.5088W |doi=10.1073/pnas.74.11.5088 |pmc=432104 |pmid=270744 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Woese initially used the term "kingdom" to refer to the three primary phylogenic groupings, and this nomenclature was widely used until the term "domain" was adopted in 1990.<ref name=w1990/>

Acceptance of the validity of Woese's phylogenetically valid classification was a slow process. Prominent biologists including [[Salvador Luria]] and [[Ernst Mayr]] objected to his division of the prokaryotes.<ref>{{Cite journal | title = Two empires or three?| doi = 10.1073/pnas.95.17.9720| volume = 95
| issue = 17| pages = 9720–9723| last = Mayr| first = Ernst| author-link = Ernst Mayr| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |year = 1998| bibcode=1998PNAS...95.9720M| pmid=9707542| pmc=33883| doi-access = free}}</ref><ref name="sapp2007">{{Cite journal| title = The structure of microbial evolutionary theory| doi = 10.1016/j.shpsc.2007.09.011| pmid = 18053933|  volume = 38| issue = 4| pages = 780–95 | last = Sapp| first = Jan A.| author-link = Jan Sapp| journal = Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences |date=December 2007}}</ref> Not all criticism of him was restricted to the scientific level. A decade of labor-intensive [[oligonucleotide]] cataloging left him with a reputation as "a crank", and Woese would go on to be dubbed "Microbiology's Scarred Revolutionary" by a news article printed in the journal ''[[science (journal)|Science]]'' in 1997.<ref name="morell1997">{{Cite journal| title = Microbiology's scarred revolutionary| doi = 10.1126/science.276.5313.699| issn = 0036-8075| volume = 276| issue = 5313| pages = 699–702| last = Morell| first = V.| journal = Science| date = 1997-05-02| pmid = 9157549| s2cid = 84866217}}</ref> The growing amount of supporting data led the [[scientific community]] to accept the Archaea by the mid-1980s.<ref name="sapp2009">{{Cite book
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| isbn = 978-0-199-73438-2
| last = Sapp
| first = Jan A.
| title = The new foundations of evolution: on the tree of life
| location = New York
| year = 2009
}}</ref> Today, very few scientists still accept the concept of a unified Prokarya.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Koonin |first1=Eugene |title=Carl Woese's vision of cellular evolution and the domains of life |journal=RNA Biology |year=2014 |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=197–204 |publisher=RNA Biol. |doi=10.4161/rna.27673 |pmid=24572480 |pmc=4008548 }}</ref>