NEW DELHI: From unlocking the secrets of DNA to saving millions of lives from disease, women scientists have shaped the modern world—often despite being overlooked, underestimated or denied full credit during their lifetimes. While history has too often side-lined female innovators, their discoveries now fuel everything from space travel to environmental awareness, gene editing to GPS technology.
Here are some of the most remarkable women whose scientific contributions transformed their fields and continue to inspire the next generation:
1. MARIE CURIE, PIONEER OF RADIOACTIVITY Marie Curie was a trailblazer whose studies of radioactivity led to the discovery of polonium and radium. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only person to win two Nobels in different sciences (Physics and Chemistry), and laid the foundation for modern nuclear physics and cancer therapy.
2. ROSALIND FRANKLIN, THE BACKBONE OF DNA’S STRUCTURE X-ray crystallography expert Rosalind Franklin produced the critical images that enabled others to deduce the double helix structure of DNA, the blueprint of life. Despite her fundamental role, she did not share in the Nobel that later honoured the discovery.
3. BARBARA McCLINTOCK, THE DISCOVERER OF “JUMPING GENES” Geneticist Barbara McClintock uncovered transposable genetic elements, or “jumping genes,” showing that genes can change positions—a discovery that reshaped genetics and earned her a Nobel Prize.
4. KATHERINE JOHNSON, NASA’S HUMAN COMPUTER Mathematician Katherine Johnson’s precise calculations of orbital mechanics were essential to early space missions at NASA, including the trajectory for Apollo 11’s moon landing. Her story of brilliance overcoming racial and gender barriers became widely known through Hidden Figures.
5. TU YOUYOU, MALARIA’S LIFESAVER Chinese pharmacologist Tu Youyou discovered artemisinin, a drug that has dramatically reduced malaria deaths worldwide. Her work drew from traditional herbal medicine and earned her a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
6. JANE GOODALL, REDEFINING PRIMATOLOGY Jane Goodall revolutionised how we understand apes and, by extension, human behaviour. Her decades-long field studies of chimpanzees revealed complex social and emotional lives once thought unique to humans.
7. GLADYS WEST, THE MATH BEHIND GPS Mathematician Gladys West developed algorithms that became the backbone of GPS technology, making accurate global navigation possible—technology most of us use daily.
8. HEDY LAMARR, THE WIRELESS VISIONARY Often better known as a Hollywood actress, Hedy Lamarr co-invented frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology, which paved the way for modern Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communications.
9. CHIEN-SHIUNG WU, SHATTERING PHYSICS ASSUMPTIONS Experimental physicist Chien-Shiung Wu’s Wu experiment disproved the long-held law of parity conservation, reshaping the foundations of particle physics.
10. JENNIFER DOUDNA, CRISPR’S CO-CREATOR Biochemist Jennifer Doudna helped develop CRISPR-Cas9, a revolutionary gene-editing tool that allows scientists to rewrite DNA with unprecedented precision—a breakthrough redefining genetics and biotechnology.
11. RACHEL CARSON, THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIENCE Marine biologist Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring sounded the alarm on pesticides, sparking the modern environmental movement and leading to policy changes in chemical regulation.
12. MAE JEMISON, BREAKING BARRIERS IN SPACE Physician, engineer and astronaut Mae Jemison became the first African American woman in space, symbolising both scientific achievement and the breaking of racial and gender barriers.
These women represent just a fraction of brilliant minds who expanded our understanding of nature, shaped critical technologies, and saved lives. Their stories show that science thrives when barriers fall, and the next great breakthrough could come from any mind with curiosity and courage.