Nettie Stevens

See also: Stevens

Nettie Maria Stevens is a genetician American E, born the July 7th 1861 with Cavendish (Vermont) and died in Baltimore (Maryland) the May 4th 1912 of a Breast cancer. Third of the four children of Ephraïm Stevens, carpenter in the Vermont, and of Julia Adams Stevens, it enters only tardily the scientific career of researcher. It will be one of the first women to be seen recognized for its scientific contributions.

His/her father earns his living sufficiently well to be able to pay studies with his children. Brilliant pupil, it completes in two years the four years of studies in Westfield Normal School (today the Westfield State College) in the Massachusetts and receives there his diploma for the occupation of teacher in 1880: she is major of her promotion. During sixteen years following, she will follow this occupation then that of librarian.

She is thus 35 years old when, in 1896, she decides to start an university course of biology to the Université of Stanford, in California. She obtains her Bachelor there off Arts in 1899 and her Master off Arts in 1900. Stevens continues its studies in Cytologie with the Bryn Mawr College, where it is influenced by work of the former director of the department of biology, Edmund Beecher Wilson (1856-1939), and of its successor, Thomas Hunt Morgan (1866-1945).

She undertakes her research to Bryn Mawr College which is completed, in 1905, by the discovery of the part played by the Chromosome XY in the sexual determination. E.B. Wilson makes a similar discovery the same year. It uses, for its experiments, various Insecte S and identifies the Y chromosome at a Coléoptère of the Tenebrio . She deduces whereas the base of the determination of the sex depends on the presence or the absence of chromosome Y.

When it begins its experiments during the years 1890, it has more than 30 years, and it obtains its doctorate in 1903. She widens her field of study to the Embryologie and the Cytogénétique.

Source

Translation of the article of English language of Wikipédia (version of April 28th, 2007).

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