Barbara McClintock

Hello, my name is Barbara McClintock. A long, long time ago, in the year 1902, I was born. When I was a little girl, I loved to be outside more than anything. I would run and play and explore the world around me. I was always asking questions about everything I saw. I especially loved looking at all the different plants growing in the fields and gardens. I wanted to know how they grew and why they looked the way they did.

My very favorite plant was corn. You might also know corn by its other name, maize. I thought corn was so interesting. When you peel back the green leaves, you see all the little kernels lined up in rows. I noticed that the kernels came in so many pretty colors. Some were yellow like the sun, and some were a deep purple. Some kernels even had little spots on them. I wanted to understand the secret of why they all looked so different from one another.

I spent many years looking very closely at my corn plants. I learned that inside every plant, there are special instructions that tell it how to grow and what color its kernels should be. Then, I found something amazing. I discovered that sometimes, these little instructions could 'jump' from one spot to another inside the plant. When they jumped, it changed the color of the corn. This was a brand new idea, and in 1951, I wrote all about it so other people could learn about it, too.

My discovery about 'jumping genes,' which are what I called the jumping instructions, was very important. It helped other scientists understand so much more about plants and animals. In 1983, I was given a very special award for my work called the Nobel Prize. I lived to be 90 years old, and I passed away in the year 1992. My work still helps scientists make new discoveries today, and it all started because I was a curious little girl who loved corn.