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David Barker
McClintock was a scientist who discovered “jumping genes” by studying corn genetics. McClintock found that when the corn was stressed, sequences of DNA moved from one place to another and triggered changes in the genome. Though she met much skepticism throughout her career, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1983, at age 81, for her work.
Barbara McClintock Quotes in Survival of the Sickest
The Survival of the Sickest quotes below are all either spoken by Barbara McClintock or refer to Barbara McClintock. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
McClintock believed that the jumps are a genomic response to internal or environmental stress that cells can't handle under their existing setup. Essentially, a challenge to survival triggers the organism to throw the mutation dice, hoping it will land on a change that will help. That’s what she thought was going on with the corn plants she was studying—too much heat or too little water triggered the corn to gamble its survival on finding a mutation that could help it survive.
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Barbara McClintock Quotes in Survival of the Sickest
The Survival of the Sickest quotes below are all either spoken by Barbara McClintock or refer to Barbara McClintock. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
McClintock believed that the jumps are a genomic response to internal or environmental stress that cells can't handle under their existing setup. Essentially, a challenge to survival triggers the organism to throw the mutation dice, hoping it will land on a change that will help. That’s what she thought was going on with the corn plants she was studying—too much heat or too little water triggered the corn to gamble its survival on finding a mutation that could help it survive.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
