Blog 11

                In chapters five through eight in A Feeling for the Organism, the author talks about Barbra McClintock’s years at the University of Missouri, an overview of the development of genetics as a field and how McClintock fit in to that, her maize research at Cold Spring Harbor, and her discovery of controlled mutation in maize coloration through transposition. The chapter that stood out to me the most was chapter seven which discussed about McClintock beginning her work at Cold Spring Harbor before and during World War II. What fascinated me about it was McClintock’s thoughts on working there. It was the perfect place to grow her corn without any worries about departmental policies while also being a fixed job, something she was struggling to find. Despite all this though, she initially did not want to work there. Luckily she did since it was one of the few places during World War II that was not stuck as hard as other research labs. Yet, her attitude toward not wanting to work there was rather odd. The author stated that McClintock did not want to lose the freedom she had to do whatever she wanted and suggested she also did not like the seclusion of the place, which is understandable for anyone. However, this does not seem to line up with her personality described in the chapters before, especially since there was an entire chapter depicting her ability to be independent and work alone. I think it is mainly because of McClintock’s explanation of not wanting to give up her freedom. Having a free spirit to study anything is an important virtue for a scientist to have. Yet, as Dr. Pennock described in one of his chapters, a virtue can become a vice when it is out of balance, as I believe it had for McClintock. One should never have to study what someone tells them to find, but there does come a point when one needs to accept that being a part of an institution is a necessary commodity.

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