In 1960, Whang-Peng and Dr. Tjio (who with Dr. Albert Levan discovered in 1958 that people normally have 46 chromosomes) were conducting research into cell inheritance at the National Cancer Institute, part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). She discovered chromosomal aberrations in the bone marrow and peripheral blood of leukemia patients: some chromosomes were broken, some had shifted position or proliferated, and some had even disappeared.
1960 年，彭汪嘉康與 Dr.Tjio（與 Dr.Levan 在 1958 年發現正常人有 46 條染色體）在美國國家健康總署（NIH）腫瘤研究所從事細胞遺傳研究，她在骨髓和周邊血中發現白血病患者的染色體有變異，有的斷裂，有的轉移或增生，有的甚至消失不見。