Barbara McClintock: The first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine

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  The person who I admire since I was a child is Barbara McClintock, who demonstrated the phenomenon of chromosome crossover. She also discovered transposition (genes moving within chromosomes), often described as jumping genes.

  Barbara McClintock was born on June 16, 1902 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. She was christened Eleanor McClintock, but her parents soon began calling her Barbara, as they felt this name perfectly suited her outspokenness, having come to believe that Eleanor was too feminine and soft a name for their daughter.

  McClintock's work was ahead of its time and for many years was considered too radical, or simply ignored, by her scientific colleagues. Deeply disappointed, she stopped publishing the results of her work and stopped lecturing, although she continued to do research. It was not until the late 1960s and 1970s that members of the scientific community began to verify her early findings. When recognition finally came, McClintock received an avalanche of awards and honors, most notably the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She was the first woman to be the sole winner of this prize.

  I admire her because she was an innovative woman for her time, and although she was ignored by her peers, she continued to work in silence without needing to be recognized, always trusting in herself.