Barbara McClintock, who achieved fame for discovering that genes could move within genomes, had her meticulous work ignored for nearly four decades, but eventually won the Nobel Prize. Why was her work so distrusted?
A) The work of women scientists was still not allowed to be published.
B) Geneticists did not want to lose their cherished notions of DNA stability.
C) There were too many alternative explanations for transposition.
D) She allowed no one else to duplicate her work.
E) She worked only with maize, which was considered "merely" a plant.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Geneticists at the time believed that DNA was stable and fixed, and McClintock's discovery challenged this belief. Therefore, her work was initially met with skepticism and distrust.

Barbara McClintock, Who Achieved Fame for Discovering That Genes Could