The story of Barbara McClintock. A pioneering Scientist and Cytogeneticist. When she entered Cornell University, women weren’t allowed to major in genetics. Instead, McClintock earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in botany and joined an elite group of researchers who studied the properties of corn at the cellular level.
She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1944. She was one of only two other women to have received this honor at the time. In 1945, she became first woman to be elected president of the Genetics Society of America. In 1981, she became one of the first scientists to receive the MacArthur Foundation Grant, commonly known as the "Genius Grant.”
At the age of 81 in 1983, she became the first woman to win a solo Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering genetic transposition, when genes change positions on chromosomes. She used the concept to explain how genes can cause certain physical characteristics to be turned on or off. For example, this is why kernels on the same piece of corn may have different colors.
She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1944. She was one of only two other women to have received this honor at the time. In 1945, she became first woman to be elected president of the Genetics Society of America. In 1981, she became one of the first scientists to receive the MacArthur Foundation Grant, commonly known as the "Genius Grant.”
At the age of 81 in 1983, she became the first woman to win a solo Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering genetic transposition, when genes change positions on chromosomes. She used the concept to explain how genes can cause certain physical characteristics to be turned on or off. For example, this is why kernels on the same piece of corn may have different colors.
