History and Sociology of Science Department, University of Pennsylvania, Claudia Cohen Hall, 249 S. 36th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
Hist Philos Life Sci. 2024 Sep 12;46(3):31. doi: 10.1007/s40656-024-00631-9.
Barbara McClintock (1902-1992), the renowned American maize geneticist, received the 1983 Nobel Prize "for her discovery of mobile genetic elements," becoming the seventh woman scientist to receive a Nobel Prize. However, Nathaniel Comfort points out that McClintock viewed her primary contribution as the elucidation of control systems, rather than the discovery of mobile elements. McClintock's interest in control systems dates back to the 1940s, and this paper investigates her 1961 conversation with François Jacob and Jacques Monod, where she sought to shape the interpretation of her work by drawing parallels between maize control systems and a bacterial system they had recently discovered. Despite McClintock's efforts, Jacob and Monod rejected her parallels and suggested that her contribution was limited to mobile elements. Through an examination of their published papers, I argue that Jacob and Monod's rejection stemmed from their failure to fully comprehend maize control systems. Disciplinary discrepancy helps explain Jacob and Monod's lack of comprehension: they were molecular geneticists working on bacteria, while McClintock was a classical geneticist studying maize. I further argue that gender played a role, as McClintock experienced the Matilda effect-the under-recognition of her contribution, reinforced by the reactions of two male geneticists, and ironically, by the award of the Nobel Prize. Control systems, stemming from McClintock's reverence for organisms, embodied what Evelyn Fox Keller defines as "gender-neutral science." This divergent view of science provides insight into why Jacob and Monod failed to grasp McClintock's work in 1961.
芭芭拉·麦克林托克（Barbara McClintock，1902-1992 年），美国著名的玉米遗传学家，因“发现可移动遗传元素”获得 1983 年诺贝尔生理学或医学奖，成为第七位获得诺贝尔奖的女性科学家。然而，内森尼尔·科莫特（Nathaniel Comfort）指出，麦克林托克认为自己的主要贡献是阐明控制系统，而不是发现可移动元件。麦克林托克对控制系统的兴趣可以追溯到 20 世纪 40 年代，本文研究了她 1961 年与弗朗索瓦·雅各布（François Jacob）和雅克·莫诺（Jacques Monod）的对话，她试图通过将玉米控制系统与他们最近发现的细菌系统进行类比来塑造对她工作的解释。尽管麦克林托克努力了，但雅各布和莫诺拒绝了她的类比，并认为她的贡献仅限于可移动元件。通过对他们发表的论文进行研究，我认为雅各布和莫诺的拒绝源于他们未能完全理解玉米控制系统。学科差异有助于解释雅各布和莫诺的理解不足：他们是研究细菌的分子遗传学家，而麦克林托克是研究玉米的经典遗传学家。我进一步认为，性别也起了作用，因为麦克林托克经历了马蒂尔达效应——她的贡献未得到充分认可，这一现象因两位男性遗传学家的反应，以及讽刺的是，因诺贝尔奖的颁发而得到强化。控制系统源自麦克林托克对生物体的崇敬，体现了伊夫林·福克斯·凯勒（Evelyn Fox Keller）所定义的“性别中立科学”。这种对科学的不同看法深入洞察了为什么雅各布和莫诺在 1961 年未能理解麦克林托克的工作。
