On December 7, 1941, genetic scientist Barbara McClintock
arrived at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory complex and began a
50-year tenure that would see her discover "jumping genes," and
win a Nobel Prize in Physiology. The Brooklyn Institute of Arts
and Sciences established Cold Spring Harbor in 1880 as a fish
hatchery, but in 1890 shifted its focus to proving or refuting
Charles Darwin's theories of evolution. By the 1930s, the
combined institutions that made up the Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratories were among the most respected in the United States.
Unable to gain tenure at the University of Missouri because of
her gender, Barbara McClintock came to Cold Spring Harbor in
1941 to further her research on multi-colored "Indian corn." In
a small field near the harbor, McClintock meticulously crossed
different strains of corn, and eventually realized that Indian
corn's random coloration was produced by a "jumping gene" that
turned some kernels red, and others yellow. When McClintock
announced her findings, scient