Smithsonian Institution Archivess
Barbara McClintock was a geneticist who studied chromosomes – the packages of DNA in the nucleus of cells – and how they affect the behaviour of the cell. She was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1983 for her work.
“I start with the seedling, and I don’t want to leave it. I don’t feel I really know the story if I don’t watch the plant all the way along. So I know every plant in the field. I know them intimately, and I find it a real pleasure to know them.”