From “failed” experiment to world-changing discovery, Waterloo PhD student turns unexpected bacterial sample into novel research

Sometimes an experiment doesn’t go as planned. That’s science. But a “failed” experiment or unexpected results can be the avenue to a discovery you could never anticipate. University of Waterloo PhD student, Jackson Tsuji (BSc ’15, PhD ’20), had a poorly growing bacterial sample he wasn’t ready to give up on, which ultimately led to a once-in-a-lifetime finding that could change how scientists view photosynthesis and its origins. 

In 2015, Tsuji joined professor and University Research Chair Josh Neufeld's lab to hunt for unusual photosynthetic bacteria in northern Canadian lakes. Based on a hypothesis by Earth and Environmental Science professor Sherry Schiff that these lakes might harbour bacteria analogous to those on early Earth. Neufeld, Tsuji, co-op student Nicolette Shaw set out to study Lake 227 at the IISD-Experimental Lakes Area near Kenora, Ontario. Unfortunately, the team had mixed results in their first two years of lake sampling and cultivation. They didn’t manage to grow the bacteria they were looking for, even after hundreds of lake water incubations in glass bottles were exposed to light. 

The team went back to the drawing board, but Tsuji kept one of the experiment bottles from Lake 227 because, although the sample didn’t behave as the team expected, something was happening that he was curious about.  

To learn more, please visit the original article Surprising bacterium from Canadian lake shines new light on ancient photosynthesis by Katie McQuaid on Waterloo News.