Genetics Unzipped

Kat Arney tells the stories of four women from the history of 20th century genetics, and explores how sexism in scientific culture led to their achievements being overlooked.

There's Esther Lederberg, whose work on phage Lambda paved the way for her husband Joshua's 1958 Nobel Prize. She was also the inventor of replica plating - a technique still used in microbiology labs all over the world today - yet struggled to get tenure and recognition for her work.

Harriet Creighton, the first graduate student of groundbreaking plant geneticist Barbara McClintock, discovered how chromosomes cross over and switch sections of DNA when germ cells are made. But after seeing how difficult it was for her mentor to get funding, Harriet left research in favour of a career as a university lecturer.

Tsuneko Okazaki discovered the eponymous 'Okazaki fragments' - short fragments produced when DNA is copied - together with her husband Reiji. While many said that it was a Nobel-worthy discovery, Reiji died in his 40s, and Tsuneko was never awarded the prize in her own right.

And finally, there's the story Martha Chase, whose famous 'blender experiment' with Alfred Hershey helped to prove that DNA carries the genetic information inside cells.

Full show notes, including scripts and music credits at GeneticsUnzipped.com