Discovery of Thermus aquaticus, a species of bacteria that can tolerate high temperatures. This is one of several thermophilic bacteria that belong to the Deinococcus–Thermus group, and the source of the heat-resistant enzyme Taq DNA polymerase, one of the most important enzymes in molecular biology because of its use in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) DNA amplification technique. Full text available from PubMedCentral at this link. See also Brock, T. D., Thermophilic microorganisms and life at high temperatures. (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1978), and Brock, T. D. "The value of basic research: Discovery of Thermus acquaticus and other extreme thermophiles," Genetics, 146 (1997) 1207-1210.