Guthrie was known for her writing about zoology; she wrote several textbooks on the subject that were widely used.[2][3] Guthrie left the University of Missouri for Wayne State University in Detroit in 1950, and stayed there until her 1960 retirement; in 1951 she was given a concurrent appointment at the Detroit Institute for Cancer Research. She cultured ovarian tissue in vitro, a significant achievement at the time, and used her cultures to study ovarian cancer.[4]