20 Women Who Made History By Bending Gender Roles

16. Barbara McClintock

#NAME 20 Women Who Made History By Bending Gender Roles

Barbara McClintock was a pioneer in cytogenetics: the study of a cell’s genetic structure and function, especially the chromosomes and their role in reproduction. Compared to Gregor Mendel in importance during her reception of the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, McClintock was instrumental in studying maize and how its chromosomes changed during reproduction.