Abstract
Barbara McClintock’s research was revolutionary, in which it was shown for the first time that an organism’s genome is not a stationary entity, but rather is subject to alteration and rearrangement. This concept of “jumping genes” or transposable elements, or transposons for short, was met initially with criticism from the scientific community. Like many outstanding female scientists, McClintock had a difficult time finding an academic position and getting promoted. However, the role of transposons eventually became widely appreciated, and McClintock was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1983. Her discoveries have had a profound effect on everything from evolutionary biology to cancer research and also opened the door to genetic engineering.
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