Barbara McClintock

Barbara McClintock—born in 1902 in Hartford, Connecticut (passed in 1992)—was an American geneticist renowned for her discovery in mobile genetic elements or “jumping genes” in maize, which earned her the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Her journey to greatness began when she enrolled at Cornell university to further her education against her family’s wishes, as they wanted her to marry instead.

McClintock looked forward to majoring in genetics, however, women were not allowed to do so at the time, influencing her decision to earn her Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD in botany. She later began her extensive research into cytogenetics in maize chromosomes (which took up much of her professional career) along with a team at Cornell in the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where she studied color patterns of maize and discovered genetic code is not stationary, but can move to different positions on a chromosome.

McClintock’s work was initially disregarded by fellow scientists because it was thought to be too modern and ahead of its time, so she stopped publishing her findings and stopped lecturing. In the late 1960s and ‘70s, her work started to gain recognition after biologists concluded that her early work was indeed true; she later received awards for her research, including the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Despite the setbacks she faced, she was able to become the first, sole, female recipient of this award.