【美国人物志】 芭芭拉·麦克林托克(4/10)
芭芭拉·麦克林托克是一位女科学家。她于1902年6月16日出生于美国康涅狄格州的哈特福德。1923年在康乃尔大学农学院获理学学士学位，1927年获植物学博士学位。在20世纪20~30年代，麦克林托克主要在康乃尔大学从事玉米遗传学的研究。Hints：
x-rays
chromosome
McClintock
Lewis Stadler
the University of Missouri
telomere
http://t1.g.hjfile.cn/listen/201308/201308310310194372658.mp3For years, scientists had been using x-rays to study genetic material in plants and other organisms. They found that x-rays caused genes to change. Sometimes, the x-rays physically broke the chromosome. Genetic researchers looked for changes in the organism. Then they used this information to produce a map linking the changes to a single area of the chromosome. McClintock became interested in the way genes reacted to unusual events. She formed a successful working relationship with Lewis Stadler of the University of Missouri. He had demonstrated the effects of x-rays on corn. Stadler sent maize treated with radiation to McClintock. She identified unusual areas she called ring chromosomes. She believed they were chromosomes broken by radiation. The broken ends sometimes joined together and formed a circle, or ring. This led her to believe that a structure at the end of the chromosome prevents chromosomes from changing. She called this structure the telomere.很多年，科学家都在用X射线研究植物和其他有机体中的基因材料。他们发现X射线能基因。基因研究学者寻找有机体中的改变。然后再运用这些信息去绘制一份连接染色体单区域改变的地图。麦克林托克开始对基因影响非同寻常事件的关联感兴趣。她和密苏尔大学的刘易斯施泰德建立了良好的工作关系。而后者研究了X射线对玉米的影响。施泰德将经过射线照射的玉米寄给麦克林托克。而她则去鉴别被自己称作环状染色体的异常部分。她坚信这些环状结构是被射线破坏的染色体。破坏的链段有时候会连到一起形成圈或者环。这使她觉得染色体的末端结构是为了防止染色体变异的所在。她把这一结构称为端粒。
翻译by：joy19920531
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