Barbara McClintock

Why Is Barbara McClintock Influential?

According to Wikipedia, Barbara McClintock was an American scientist and cytogeneticist who was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. McClintock received her PhD in botany from Cornell University in 1927. There she started her career as the leader in the development of maize cytogenetics, the focus of her research for the rest of her life. From the late 1920s, McClintock studied chromosomes and how they change during reproduction in maize. She developed the technique for visualizing Maize chromosomes and used microscopic analysis to demonstrate many fundamental genetic ideas. One of those ideas was the notion of genetic recombination by crossing-over during meiosis—a mechanism by which chromosomes exchange information. She produced the first genetic map for maize, linking regions of the chromosome to physical traits. She demonstrated the role of the telomere and centromere, regions of the chromosome that are important in the conservation of genetic information. She was recognized as among the best in the field, awarded prestigious fellowships, and elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1944.

Barbara McClintock's Published Works

Number of citations in a given year to any of this author's works

Total number of citations to an author for the works they published in a given year. This highlights publication of the most important work(s) by the author

Published Papers

The significance of responses of the genome to challenge. (2199)
The Stability of Broken Ends of Chromosomes in Zea Mays. (1430)
The origin and behavior of mutable loci in maize (1327)
Chromosome organization and genic expression. (1112)
Controlling elements and the gene. (685)
The Behavior in Successive Nuclear Divisions of a Chromosome Broken at Meiosis. (523)
Mutable Loci in Maize (486)
The Production of Homozygous Deficient Tissues with Mutant Characteristics by Means of the Aberrant Mitotic Behavior of Ring-Shaped Chromosomes. (408)
The Fusion of Broken Ends of Chromosomes Following Nuclear Fusion. (289)
The control of gene action in maize (265)
A Correlation of Cytological and Genetical Crossing-Over in Zea Mays. (229)
Neurospora. I. Preliminary observations of the chromosomes of Neurospora crassa (216)
Induction of Instability at Selected Loci in Maize. (215)
Mechanisms that rapidly reorganize the genome (186)
Cytological observations of deficiencies involving known genes, translocations and an inversion in Zea mays (180)
A Cytological and Genetical Study of Triploid Maize. (171)
Cytogenetic Studies of Maize and Neurospora (170)
The fusion of broken ends of sister half-chromatids following chromatid breakage at meiotic anaphases (160)
CHROMOSOME MORPHOLOGY IN ZEA MAYS. (160)
Some Parallels Between Gene Control Systems in Maize and in Bacteria (152)
A CYTOLOGICAL DEMONSTRATION OF THE LOCATION OF AN INTERCHANGE BETWEEN TWO NON-HOMOLOGOUS CHROMOSOMES OF ZEA MAYS. (145)
A Correlation of Ring-Shaped Chromosomes with Variegation in Zea Mays. (140)
Mutations in Maize and Chromosomal Aberrations in Neurospora (123)
The Suppressor-Mutator System of Control of Gene Action in Maize (121)
A Method for Making Aceto-Carmin Smears Permanent (114)
Intranuclear systems controlling gene action and mutation. (103)
Mutation in maize (102)
The Relation of Homozygous Deficiencies to Mutations and Allelic Series in Maize. (99)
SPONTANEOUS ALTERATIONS IN CHROMOSOME SIZE AND FORM IN ZEA MAYS (94)
Aspects of gene regulation in maize (94)
Topographical relations between elements of control systems in maize (84)
Further Studies of Gene-Control Systems in Maize (79)
Maize genetics. (79)
Controlled mutation in maize (77)
Components of action of the regulators Spm and Ac (72)
Genetic and cytological studies of maize (70)
Chromosome constitution of races of maize. Its significance in the interpretation of relationships between races and varieties in the Americas (62)
Genetic systems regulating gene expression during development (59)
A GENIC DISTURBANCE OF MEIOSIS IN ZEA MAYS. (59)
The Cytological Identification of the Chromosome Associated with the R-G Linkage Group in ZEA MAYS. (58)
The Association of Mutants with Homozygous Deficiencies in Zea Mays. (54)
Development of the maize endosperm as revealed by clones (54)
The Order of the Genes C, Sh and Wx in Zea Mays with Reference to a Cytologically Known Point in the Chromosome. (48)
The Contribution of One Component of a Control System to Versatility of Gene Expression (48)
Regulation of pattern of gene expression by controlling elements in maize. (40)
Chromosome Constitutions of Mexican and Guatemalan Races of Maize (36)
The states of a gene locus in maize (35)
Artefacts created during oral biopsy procedures. (33)
Polyploidy in Zea Mays L. (31)
Significance of chromosome constitutions in tracing the origin and migration of races of maize in the Americas (29)
A 2n-1 chromosomal chimera in maize (20)
Modified gene expressions induced by transposable elements (14)
The Correlation of Cytological and Genetical Crossing-Over in Zea Mays. A Corroboration. (12)
Mechanisms that rapidly reorganize the genome : (genome reorganizations, transposable gene control systems, restriction enzymes, stabilizing mechanisms) (9)
Restoration of A1 gene action by crossing over (5)
Chromosome Organization and Function in Higher Organisms (4)
California Institute of Technology Lectures (4)
Trauma as a Means of Initiating Change in Genome Organization and Expression (3)
Genome Shock as a Means of Reprogramming Genomes (2)
Attempts to Separate Ds from neighboring gene loci (2)
Continued Study of Stability of Location of Spm (1)
The production of maize plants mosaic for homozygous deficiencies: Simulation of the bm1 phenotype through loss of the Bm1 locus (1)
The Cytological Identification of the Chromosomes Associated with the 'R-golden' and 'B-liguleless' Linkage Groups in Zea Mays (1)
A Genic Disturbance of Meiosis in Zea mays (1)
Studies of instability of chromosome behavior of components of a modified chromosome 9 (1)
Spread of Mutational Change Along the Chromosome (1)
System responsible for mutations at a1m-2 (1)
Transposition sequences of Ac (1)
A Case of Ac-induced Instability at the Bronze Locus in Chromosome 9 (1)
Columbia University Lectures (1)
The Inheritance Behavior and the Mode of Action of Ac (0)
The sixth volume of Essays of an Information Scientist contained all of my essays published during the previous year in Current Contents (0)
[Barbara McClintock's Curriculum Vitae] (0)
Conclusions on c-m1; Outline of bz-m1; Begin c-m2 (0)
Six Plants Examined in Each Race (0)
Breakage-fusion-bridge cycle induced deficiencies in the short arm of chromosome 9 (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Curt and Evelyn Stern (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to F. G. Brieger (0)
Aspects of Gene Control in Higher Organisms (0)
MUTABLE LOCI IN (0)
"Mode of Operation of a System of Controlling Elements in Maize" (Appendix) (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Angel Kato (0)
Nobel Prize Banquet (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Harold Frank Robinson (0)
Changes in State of Ac -- the Effects; Breakage-fusion-bridge Cycles in Endosperm; Transposition of Ds (Begin) (0)
Further study of Ac control of mutation at the bronze locus in chromosome 9 (0)
Continuation of Inheritance Behavior in Ac (0)
"Memorandum to Marcus Rhoades (about the Ds Locus)" [Appendix] (0)
Introduction to Study of Variegation in Maize (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Peter A. Peterson (0)
A Method for Detecting Potential Mutations of a Specific Chromosomal Region (0)
Lecture Notes on Maize (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to William L. Brown (0)
Degree of spread of mutation along the chromosome induced by Ds (0)
Continuation of Transposition of Ds; Locations of Ds in Short Arm of Chromosome 9. The Missing Regions; Why. The States of Ds (0)
"The Ds Locus. Part III. Transposition of the Ds Locus" (Title Page and Table of Contents) (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Frank Press, National Academy of Sciences (0)
:.HE PRODUCTION OF HOMOZYGOUS DEFICIENT TISSUES ,’ WITH MUTAST CHARACTERISTICS BY ME-AX’S OF i \ THE ABERRANT MITOTIC BEHAVIOR OF RING-SHAPED CHROMOSOIMES* (0)
Polypoidy in Zea mays L. (0)
BARBARA McCLINTOCK : STATEMENT OF ACHIEVDlENTS Resume (0)
[Unpublished index of corn specimens] (section 4, image 4) (0)
"Mode of Operation of a System of Controlling Elements in Maize" (pages 1-31) (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to J. R. S. Fincham (0)
The Interpretation of Origin and Behavior of the Controlling Systems (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to David H. Timothy (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Marcus M. Rhoades (0)
Gene Control Mechanisms in Higher Organisms: Two Common Types and Several Special Types (0)
Further study of the a1m-1 Spm system (0)
The Genetic Location and Cytological Behavior of Ds (0)
Expanding Concepts in Genetics (0)
The Origin and Behavior of c-m2; The Origin and Behavior of wx-m1 (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Oliver E. Nelson, Jr. (0)
List of McClintock publications (0)
Review of Previous Discussions (0)
ASPECTS OF GEKE REGULATIOK IN MAIZE (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Charles R. Burnham (0)
A METHOD FOR MAKING ACETO-CARMIN SMEARS (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Elizabeth H. Blackburn (0)
How Chromosomes Have Been Used to Trace the Origin and Migration of Races of Maize in the Americas (0)
Spread of Mutation Change Along Chromosome. The a1 m-1; a1 m-2 Control Systems (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Almiro Blumenschein (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Curt Stern (0)
Cyto-Genetics in 1932 (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Joshua Lederberg (0)
The Breakage-fusion-bridge Cycle and the Origin of Instability at Gene Loci (0)
Talk on genomes (0)
Continued Study of a Structurally Modified Chromosome 9 (0)
BOTANY: CREIGHTON A ND McCLINTOCK hoc. N. A. S. THE CORRELATION OF CYTOLOGICAL AND GENETICAL CROSSING-OVER IN ZEA MA YS. A CORROBORATION (0)
MUTABLE LOCI IN MAIZE t, (0)
Continuation of Discussion of wx-m1; The Induction of Mutability at Selected Loci; The States of a1-m3 (0)
Draft of letter from Barbara McClintock to Angel Kato (0)
Continuation of Transposition of Ac; and its Relation to Somatic Sectoring and to Controls of Mutation of Mutable Genes (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to George W. Beadle (0)
A suppressor-mutator system of control of genic action and mutational change (0)
Memorandum from Barbara McClintock to William L. Brown (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to W. Ronnie Coffman (0)
The Discovery of Ds. Its Behavior and its Relation to Mutable Loci (0)
THE ORDER OF THE GENES C, Sh AND Wx IN ZEA MA YS WITH REFERENCE TO A CYTOLOGICALLY KNOWN POINT IN THE CHROMOSOME BY BARBARA MCCLINTOCE (0)
The Mechanism of Transposition of Ds; Origin and Behavior of cm-1 (0)
Principles Derived from Study of Bacterial and Phage Genetic Systems (0)
Alteration of Gene Action by Genetic Mechanisms (0)
"Memorandum to Marcus Rhoades (about the Ds Locus)" [pages 26-54] (0)
Letter from Barbara McClintock to Melvin Green (0)
"The Ds Locus. Part III. Transposition of the Ds Locus" (pages 51-77) (0)
Gene-Control Mechanisms in Higher Organisms. Part II (0)