What is Barbara McClintock?
{{Infobox scientist | name = Barbara McClintock | image = Barbara McClintock (1902-1992).jpg | image_width = | birth_date = {{birth date|1902|6|16}} | birth_place = [[Hartford, Connecticut]], USA | death_date = {{death date and age|1992|9|2|1902|6|16}} | death_place = [[Huntington]], [[New York (state)|New York]], USA | nationality = American | field = [[Cytogenetics]] | work_institution = [[University of Missouri]]<br />[[Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory]] | alma_mater = [[Cornell University]] | doctoral_advisor = | doctoral_students = | known_for = [[Transposon]]s, and the genetic structure of [[maize]] | prizes = [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (1983) | footnotes = }} '''Barbara McClintock''' (June 16, 1902 – September 2, 1992) was an [[Americans|American]] [[biologist]]. She was a distinguished [[cytogenetics|cytogeneticist]] who worked on [[inheritance]] in [[maize]]. McClintock was awarded the 1983 [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]]. McClintock got her [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] in [[botany]] from [[Cornell University]] in 1927. Maize cytogenetics was the focus of her research for the rest of her career.<ref>McClintock, Barbara. 1983. ''A short biographical note: Barbara McClintock'' [http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1983/mcclintock-autobio.html Nobel Foundation biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011217062956/http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1983/mcclintock-autobio.html |date=2001-12-17 }} [http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/LL/B/B/H/C/_/llbbhc.pdf .pdf]</ref> From the late 1920s, McClintock studied [[chromosome]]s and how they change during reproduction in maize. She used [[microscope|microscopic]] analysis to show genetic recombination by [[crossing-over]] during [[meiosis]]—a mechanism by which chromosomes exchange information. She produced the first [[genetic linkage|genetic map]] for maize, and demonstrated the role of the [[telomere]] and [[c