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birgitta bremer

"In ten years, the complete 'Tree of Life' will be finished and we'll have a complete map of life's family history. Then we can begin to understand why certain life forms died out while others went on evolving."

Subject tags for this article: biotechnology, botany, plants, classification, biological diversity, Carl Linnaeus, evolution,

Born: 1950
PhD in Botany, Stockholm University, 1980.
Professor Bergianus at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Director of the Bergius Botanic Garden, Stockholm.

Interview by Eva Krutmeijer

The holder of the most prestigious position in systematic biology in Sweden is a woman - which seems only proper today. The office itself goes all the way back to Peter Jonas Bergius (1730-1790), one of Carl Linnaeus' ‘disciples'. Birgitta Bremer is number nine in the series of Bergianus professors. Under her leadership, research has advanced in a way her predecessors could scarcely have dreamed of. Using the most modern biotechnical equipment, similar to what forensic technicians use in criminal investigations, she is doing pure detective work to puzzle out plant identities, development and relationships.

What do you think would surprise Linnaeus most if he came to the Bergius Botanic Garden today, apart from the fact that the professor is a woman?

"That the garden can look so good with so few gardeners! That's the most obvious thing. We work entirely differently from how they did in the 18th century yet many parts of the botanic garden look just like they did 300 years ago."

And if he stepped into your laboratory?

"He'd be staggered by all the machines and computers. But when he saw what we'd achieved with our modern methods he'd be as fascinated as we are. Linnaeus realised that it should be possible to map all life by studying life forms in detail. This would show how they're related. Of course, Linnaeus couldn't see the small details we can see. He knew nothing about the molecular world and how it works. He could study plants with the naked eye and arrange them accordingly - but he realised that this could only produce an artificial system."

So Linnaeus wouldn't be surprised that you're redrawing his genealogical tree?

"No, he actually began what he called "Fragmenta Botanica", which was to be the true map of plant relationships. But he realised that it wouldn't work. So he developed his own classification system according to pistils and stamens as a way of creating order."

So you're completing Linnaeus' original idea?

"Well, you could say that. But don't forget Linnaeus' own enormous contribution. He was a true encyclopaedist, extraordinarily observant, rather than an innovator. We shouldn't underestimate how important great works like his are in pushing science forward."

Did you always want to be a biologist?

"No, I originally wanted to study medicine, but that became chemistry and then biology. I was fascinated by tropical plants when I was quite young, on a trip to Sri Lanka for example. I was amazed by how little we know about some groups of plants. I saw it as a challenge!"

Are we good at botany in Sweden? Does Linnaeus' legacy live on?

"Definitely. Even though we have small budgets compared with colleagues abroad, we're keeping up well."

Sweden has been playing a leading role in the field of cladistics - designing genealogical trees that tell us about an organism's evolutionary history - ever since it was developed in the 1950s.

Where will biology be in ten years' time?

"The complete ‘Tree of Life' will be finished and we'll have a complete map of life's family history. Then we can begin to understand why certain life forms died out while others went on evolving. You can compare it with the Human Genome Project. The aim of that was to survey the whole of the human genetic pool. Just think of all the problems we can tackle now we've got tabs on every gene in the human body! In the same way we'll be able to understand much more about how life developed on Earth, and how life forms interact - absolutely crucial for the future of the planet".