Early life and education
Barbara Jean Francis was born in Tyler, Texas, the daughter of Albert Edward Francis and Mary Agnes Linehan Francis. Her father was a railroad engineer. She completed undergraduate studies in chemistry at Texas Woman's University, and earned her master's degree and Ph.D. at Cornell University. Her 1959 master's thesis was titled "The effect of conventional and electronic cooking on the thiamine content of pork patties, roasts, and chops"; her 1964 doctoral dissertation was titled "Separation ofCareer
Apgar worked for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a biochemist in the Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory at Cornell University. She was a member of a team studying the structure of ribonucleic acids (RNA) withSelected publications
Between 1959 and 1997, Apgar published dozens of research articles in academic journals including ''Food science projects
* "Cooking Pork Electronically: Effect on Cooking Time, Losses, and Quality" (1959, with Nancy Cox, Irene Downey, and Faith Fenton)RNA work with R. W. Holley group
* "Nucleotide and oligonucleotide compositions of the alanine-, valine-, and tyrosine-acceptor 'soluble' ribonucleic acids of yeast" (1961, with Robert W. Holley, Susan H. Merrill, and Paul L. Zubkoff) * "Fractionation of yeast amino acid-acceptor ribonucleic acids by countercurrent distribution" (1961, with B. P. Doctor and R. W. Holley) * "Purification of the alanine-, valine-, histidine-, and tyrosine-acceptor ribonucleic acids from yeast" (1962, with Robert W. Holley and Susan H. Merrill) * "Structure of a ribonucleic acid" (1965, with R. W. Holley, G. A. Everett, J. T. Madison, M. Marquisee, S. H. Merrill, J. R. Penswick, and A. Zamir)Work on zinc deficiency
* "Effect of Zinc Deficiency on Parturition in the Rat" (1968) * "Effect of Zinc Deficiency on Maintenance of Pregnancy in the Rat" (1970) * "Effect of a Low Zinc Diet during Gestation on Reproduction in the Rabbit" (1971) * "Effect of Zinc Deprivation from Day 12, 15, or 18 of Gestation on Parturition in the Rat" (1972) * "Effect of Zinc Repletion Late in Gestation on Parturition in the Zinc-deficient Rat" (1973) * "Effect of Restricted Feed Intake on the Sensitivity of the Bovine Corpus Luteum to LH In Vitro" (1975, with Douglas Aspros, James E. Hixon, Raymond R. Saatman, and William Hansel) * "Effect on the Ewe and Lamb of Low Zinc Intake throughout Pregnancy" (1985, with James A. Fitzgerald) * "Zinc and reproduction: an update" (1992)Later collaborations
* "Apparent absorption and retention of Ca, Cu, Mg, Mn, and Zn from a diet containing bran" (1986, with R. Schwartz and E. M. Wien) * "Marginal vitamin A intake during pregnancy in Guinea pigs: effect on immune parameters in neonate" (1995, with T. R. Kramer and J. Cecil Smith) * "Serum carotenoid concentrations and their reproducibility in children in Belize" (1996, with D. Makdani, A. L. Sowell, E. W. Gunter, A. Hegar, W. Potts, D. Rao, A. Wilcox, J. C. Smith) * "The gerbil: A model for studying the metabolism of beta-carotene and minerals" (1997, with William A. House and J. Cecil Smith)Personal life
Jean Francis married Ronald W. Apgar in 1958; they lived in Ithaca, New York, and had three children. "The children went to the laboratory with me," she explained, adding "I have very efficient children." Her son Michael died in a car accident in 1985.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apgar, Jean 1936 births People from Tyler, Texas Texas Woman's University alumni Cornell University alumni American biochemists Women chemists American women scientists People from Ithaca, New York Living people 21st-century American women scientists