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The Impact of Female Scientists in Today's Society


When I was a little girl I had the dream that I could become anything I aspired to be whether it was a lawyer, doctor, president, or scientist.  Women haven’t always been able to go to school and have jobs like men do but there were women that pushed passed those boundaries and taught other women that they can be better than men. 
            Marie Curie was a brilliant scientist born in 1867 and the only education she received was general education and a miniscule amount of scientific training from her father who was a schoolteacher.  In 1891, she acquired licentiateships in physics and mathematics and later in 1894 surpassed her husband to become the new Head of Physics.  She then gained her Doctor of Science degree in 1903 and following her husband’s death she became the Professor of General Physics in the Faculty of Sciences where she was the first woman to hold this position.  During her lifetime Marie Curie discovered radium and polonium and the use of radium to reduce suffering and during World War I.1  Madame Marie Curie paved the way for women in science, she made such a contribution to the world when discovering radium and polonium that polonium was named after her native country, Poland.  She taught science at universities before women ever could let alone become the head of the physics lab. 
            Who was Elizabeth Blackwell?  She was the first woman to graduate from medical school in the United States but before she went to medical school she began her career as a teacher.  It was then that she chose to attend medical school where she graduated first in her class and was the first woman to obtain her M.D.  She chose to go to medical school before any other woman did because she had an ill friend who didn’t want to see a male physician and would rather see a female doctor.  Blackwell decided that in her friend’s time of need that she should become a doctor even though it would be a hard road to go down.2  Blackwell was continuously laughed at and ostracized because women were not meant to go to school let alone a medical school that was deemed as a male profession.  She looked passed their critiques and overcame societies thoughts on women being second class citizens when in the 1860s she opened a medical school for women.  Elizabeth Blackwell was a pioneer for women in the medical field and if she could see passed all of her obstacles than anyone can.
            One of the latest female scientists that have made a large contribution to science is Jennifer Doudna.  Doudna uncovered the structure and function of the first ribozyme that helps catalyze chemical reactions.3  Uncovering this work helped Doudna create CRISPR-Cas9, which allows for the genes to be edited at a low cost.  Doudna is also known for the ethical complications of using CRISPR-Cas9 to change human embryos. 3  Jennifer Doudna has changed the science society for the best and the world shall benefit from these women.
            Women like Curie, Blackwell, and Doudna have changed the world because without them women might feel like they were still second class citizens to men or that they aren’t smart enough to push themselves into something as extraordinary as this.  When I was in high school I knew that I wanted to make a difference within the world and learning more about what these women have done make me glad on the route I have taken.  Women have made such incredible advances in science that it should push the younger generation into doing the same thing.






Works Cited

1.     “Marie Curie - Biographical.” Nobelprize.org
2.     “Elizabeth Blackwell.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 27 Feb. 2018
3.     “The Life and Work of Jennifer Doudna.” WhatisBiotechnology.org


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