# Barbara McClintock

> She saw genes jump — decades before anyone believed her. McClintock's maize work in the 1940s uncovered transposons, mobile DNA that could leap between chromosomes and flip traits on or off, but the field dismissed it as impossible. She stopped publishing in 1953 and waited.

*American scientist and cytogeneticist*

**Canonical URL:** https://fame.am/person/barbara-mcclintock

## Identity
- **Profile type:** Scientist ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631))
- **Category:** Scientists
- **Country:** United States
- **Born:** 1902-06-16
- **Died:** 1992-09-02
- **Status:** deceased
- **Gender:** female

## Bio

McClintock earned her PhD in botany from Cornell in 1927 and built maize cytogenetics from the ground up, developing techniques to visualize chromosomes under the microscope. Through the late 1920s and 1930s she demonstrated genetic recombination during meiosis and identified the functions of telomeres and centromeres — work so sharp she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1944. In the 1940s and 1950s she discovered transposons and showed that genes could regulate themselves across generations, but skepticism of her findings drove her out of publication by 1953. She spent years studying maize races in South America while the rest of molecular biology caught up. By the 1960s and 1970s other scientists confirmed what she'd shown decades earlier, and in 1983 she received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine — unshared, the only woman in that category to this day.

## Fame
- **Popularity score:** 62.6 / 100
- **Momentum:** 0.0 / 100  (trend: FALLING)
- **Historical depth:** 23.9 / 100
- **Now attention:** 0.0 / 100
- **Source confidence:** 60.0 / 100
- **Profile completeness:** 70.0 / 100
- **Category rank:** #233

## Topics
#Scientists, #Scientist, #Chemistry, #Biology, #United States, #Americas, #20th Century

## Sources
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q199654)
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Pantheon 2.0](https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Barbara%20McClintock)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [باربارا مک‌کلینتاک](https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7_%D9%85%DA%A9%E2%80%8C%DA%A9%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%A7%DA%A9)
- [Барбара Мак-Клинток](https://ba.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B1%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BA-%D0%9A%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BA)
- [Барбара Мак-Клінтак](https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B1%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BA-%D0%9A%D0%BB%D1%96%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BA)
- [Барбара Макклинтък](https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B1%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%82%D1%8A%D0%BA)
- [বারবারা ম্যাকলিন্টক](https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE_%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%95)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [باربارا مەککلینتۆک](https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7_%D9%85%DB%95%DA%A9%DA%A9%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%AA%DB%86%DA%A9)
- [Barbara McClintocková](https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintockov%C3%A1)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Μπάρμπαρα ΜακΚλίντοκ](https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9C%CF%80%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%BC%CF%80%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%B1_%CE%9C%CE%B1%CE%BA%CE%9A%CE%BB%CE%AF%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BA)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [باربارا مک‌کلینتاک](https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7_%D9%85%DA%A9%E2%80%8C%DA%A9%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%A7%DA%A9)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Barbara McClintock](https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Wikiquote](https://as.wikiquote.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A7%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A7%B0%E0%A6%BE_%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%95)
- [Wikiquote](https://bjn.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Wikiquote](https://bn.wikiquote.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE_%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%95)
- [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)
- [Wikiquote](https://id.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock)

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