A feeling for the organism...

Today is the birthday of Nobel laureate Barbara McClintock. Before I got to Cornell, I never knew too much about her aside from a few comments in introductory genetics and biology classes. However, once I got to this place above Cayuga's waters, the lore and legend about Barbara and her 'jumping genes' abounded. Not only was she a pioneer scientist, earning (after several decades of skepticism) the respect of colleagues the world over, but she was an inspiration to many.

Now, I'm not a geneticist, and while I understand her work on chromosomes, it doesn't really apply to my work, per se. However, she has still managed to be inspiration to me. Despite being a basic scientist, she had an acute understanding and awareness of the plants with which she worked (maize, primarily). She referred to this as "a feeling for the organism." Unfortunately, because of reductionism, I too often can encounter brilliant scientists who have no concept of how their plants act or behave (yes, I am anthropomorphicizing here). They lack the 'feeling' that guided Barbara.

In her biography*, McClintock is quoted as saying that one must understand a plant,

"how it grows, understand its parts, understand when something is going wrong with it. [An organism] isn't just a piece of plastic, it's something that is constantly being affected by the environment, constantly showing attributes or disabilities in its growth. You have to be aware of all of that... You need to know those plants well enough so that if anything changes,... you [can] look at the plant and right away you know what this damage you see is from -- something that scraped across it or something that bit it or something that the wind did."

Inspiring words, indeed.

Polygonatum biflorum

So, next time you see a tree in the woods, a blade of grass in the yard, or even a tenacious weed sprouting from the sidewalk, take a second and look at the plant. Find its place in the world, ask yourself where its roots are growing and where its branches spread; wonder about its competitors. Ponder how this thing, which cannot run away to escape a swarm of locusts, a pelting of hail, or the hot-baking sun of a summer's day, ponder how it survives.

Get a feeling for the organism.


*Keller, E. F. 1983. A feeling for the organism. The life and work of Barbara McClintock. W. H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco.