Ears of maize These ears of maize were studied by Barbara McClintock in her research on genetics. As early as the 1940s, ground-breaking insights were being made thanks to her studies: parts of the maize genome can jump from one place to another in the chromosomes. This is what causes colour variation of kernels in an ear of maize. It took years before McClintock’s discoveries were acknowledged, however, but they eventually had a revolutionary impact on genetics.
The ears of maize were deposited at the Nobel Prize Museum by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 2000.