Biologjia Online

George Wells Beadle (1903–1989) grew up on a 40-acre farm near the small town of Wahoo, Nebraska. Beadle might have become a farmer himself had it not been for the influence of his high school science teacher, Bess MacDonald, who persuaded him to enroll at the University of Nebraska College of Agriculture. After earning a B. S. in 1926, Beadle remained at Nebraska to obtain an M. A. with Franklin D. Keim. Through his work with Keim, Beadle became interested in fundamental genetics and was persuaded to apply to graduate school at Cornell University rather than return to the farm.