Barbara McClintock鈥檚 career at 黑料吃瓜资源 (CSHL) revolutionized genetics research. At CSHL鈥檚 鈥淎nimal House,鈥� her groundbreaking experiments with corn led to the discovery of transposons, or 鈥渏umping genes鈥� in 1944. Fifty years ago, at its 1973 Symposium, CSHL renamed the building in McClintock鈥檚 honor. Ten years later, in 1983, Barbara McClintock became the first woman to earn an unshared Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
It鈥檚 now known that transposons are widespread in plant and animal genomes. But this wasn鈥檛 always scientific consensus鈥攆ar from it, in fact. When McClintock presented her research to the public in 1951, much of the science community dismissed it outright. 鈥淭hey said I was crazy鈥攁bsolutely mad,鈥� McClintock once recalled. 鈥淲hen you know you are right, you don鈥檛 care.鈥� Later discoveries of transposons in fruit flies and yeast set the record straight. By the time she took a step back from active research in 1967, McClintock鈥檚 discoveries had gained broad acceptance.
Today, the McClintock Laboratory houses CSHL鈥檚 Amor Vegas, dos Santos, and Westcott labs. It is also home to Adjunct Associate Professor Sepideh Gholami. These four cancer researchers take on the disease from a variety of angles.
CSHL Fellow Corina Amor Vegas studies cellular senescence鈥攚hen cells stop dividing but don鈥檛 die. Associate Professor Camila dos Santos researches how pregnancy affects breast cancer risk. Assistant Professor Peter Westcott focuses on how the immune system shapes tumor growth. Sepideh Gholami works to improve clinical trials and therapies for colorectal and liver cancer.
The Carnegie Institute of Washington, a predecessor of CSHL, built the 鈥淎nimal House鈥� in 1914. It is one of CSHL鈥檚 oldest buildings, a National Historic Landmark, and a beacon of inspiration for scientists both here in New York and all around the world.
Written by: Nick Wurm, Communications Specialist | [email protected] | 516-367-5940