Groundbreaking Women Scientists Chosen as Names for 3 New Pasco Schools.

Three women who pioneered important scientific discoveries will have their legacy remembered as the three new Pasco Elementary Schools will be named after them.

The Pasco School Board announced Wednesday that Elementary Schools #13, #14 and #15 will carry the following names:

#13-Rosalind Franklin - Her work was critical in the discovery of DNA.   She was a crystallographer who eventually died from ovarian cancer, the result of significant radioactive exposure from her research.  She is credited with discovering what is called the "double helix" which is the structure of DNA, upon which all subsequent DNA research was based.  Quite a discovery!

#14-Barbara McClintock - Her work on genetic transpostion, or "jumping genes" was finally recognized 30 years after is discovery as being accurate, and the groundwork for much of what we know about genetics.  She is the only woman ever to win a solo Nobel Prize in the fields of Physiology and Medicine.

#15-The most well-known name on the list is Marie Curie.    She and her husband discovered most of our modern breakthroughs in radiation, which led to x-rays and many other discoveries.  The measure of radiation, curies, came from her name.   She is considered the most well-known female scientist in history, and is buried in the Pantheon in Paris.  Despite excessive exposure to radiation, she actually lived to be 66 years of age.

The board officially and unanimously voted to approve the names at their meeting December 10th.