Barbara McClintock(1902–1992)

Nature ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 359 (6393) ◽  
pp. 272-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald R. Fink
Keyword(s):  
Barbara Mcclintock

scholarly journals How Barbara McClintock discovered transposable elements in maize

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-13
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Chromosomal Location ◽  
Chromosome Breakage ◽  
Dna Transposons ◽  
Barbara Mcclintock ◽  
Controlling Elements ◽  
Earthquake Event ◽  
Maize Kernels ◽  
The Relationship

The paper describes the early part of Barbara McClintock`s work on DNA transposons in maize, in which she discovered the Ac-Ds family of mobile "controlling elements". An account is first given of the cytology of the system that was used to generate intact chromosomes having "sticky" (broken) ends. Cytogenetical aspects of the chromatid and chromosome breakage-fusion-bridge cycles, deriving from breakage, are then described, which leads on to the way in which variegation in phenotypes of the maize kernels could be "read" in terms of chromosome breakage. The "genetic earthquake" event of 1944, triggered by introducing broken chromosomes into a zygote from both parents, lead to the discovery of Ds and Ac. Finding mobility of Ds from one chromosomal location to another was pure serendipity: the transposition showed itself while experiments were being undertaken to accurately map Ds. A similar chance observation revealed transposition of Ac as well, and then the relationship between the two elements was elucidated in terms of their autonomous and non-autonomous nature.

scholarly journals Barbara McClintock, 16 June 1902 - 2 September 1992

1994 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 265-280 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Genetic Knowledge ◽  
Natural Knowledge ◽  
William Bateson ◽  
Exact Determination ◽  
History Of ◽  
Barbara Mcclintock ◽  
The Impact

Barbara McClintock’s remarkable life spanned the history of genetics in the 20th century. Though technically rooted in Mendel’s experiments carried out decades earlier, the science of genetics began with the rediscovery of his work at the turn of the century. In 1902, the year of McClintock’s birth, William Bateson wrote prophetically that ‘an exact determination of the laws of heredity will probably work more change in man’s outlook on the world, and in his power over nature, than any other advance in natural knowledge that can be clearly foreseen’. Indeed, the science of genetics, to which McClintock made seminal contributions, both experimental and conceptual, has come to dominate all of the biological sciences, from molecular biology, through cell and developmental biology, to medicine and agriculture. And Bateson’s immodest guess was arguably an underestimate of the impact of genetic knowledge on humanity.

scholarly journals Barbara McClintock

1993 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Barbara Mcclintock
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