Mary F. Lyon
Mary Lyon X-chromosome inactivation[3] | |
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Awards |
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Scientific career | |
Institutions | University of Edinburgh |
Doctoral advisor | Ronald Fisher |
Doctoral students | Elizabeth Fisher[2] |
Mary Frances Lyon
Early life and education
Mary Lyon was born on 15 May 1925 in Norwich, England as the eldest out of three children of a civil servant and a
Research and career
After her PhD (awarded 1950
In 1955, her group moved to the MRC radiobiology unit in Harwell, where there was room for more mouse facilities. There she continued to investigate the mouse mutations. She also scrutinised a 'mottled' mutant, which had a different effect on male and female mice: male embryos sometimes died, and the surviving males had white coats, but females lived and were variegated. Through calculated and deliberated breeding of mutants, she investigated the transition of the mutation and concluded that the mutation was positioned on the X chromosome. This, together with new findings at that time concerning the X chromosome, led her to hypothesize about X chromosome silencing.[14]
Lyon published many papers on radiation and chemical mutagenesis and on studies of mutant genes.[18] She also did extensive work on the mouse t-complex.[19][20]
She was head of the Genetics Section of the MRC Radiology Unit at Harwell from 1962 to 1987. Although she retired from research in 1990, according to an interview from 2010, she was still active in the laboratory a few times a week.[14]
X-inactivation
It was while working on radiation hazards in 1961 that she discovered
Awards and honours
Lyon was elected a
Since 2015 The Genetics Society has awarded the Mary Lyon Medal in her honour.
Other awards and honours include:
- In 1973 Mary Lyon was elected Fellow of the Royal Society.[4]
- In 1979 she became Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences.
- In 1984 she won the Royal Medal of the Royal Society.
- In 1994 she won the Mauro Baschirotto Award in Human Genetics.
- In 1997 she was awarded the Wolf Prize in Medicine.
- In 1997 she also received the Amory Prize.
- In 2003 Mary was awarded the Mendel Medal by The Genetics Society.
- In 2004 she was awarded the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology.
- In 2006 she received the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize.
- In 2006 she was awarded the Rosenstiel Award, jointly with Davor Solter and Azim Surani.
Her nomination for the
Legacy
In 2018, the International Mammalian Genome Society established the Mary Lyon Award in recognition her role as a mentor and her remarkable career which began in a time period where very few women became scientists. The award is presented annually to early- and mid-stage independent female researchers.[16]
References
- ^ doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U25200. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- EThOS uk.bl.ethos.769180.
- S2CID 46853044.
- ^ a b c d "EC/1973/19: Lyon, Mary Frances". London: The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 8 July 2019.
- ^ "Mary Lyon, geneticist – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
- PMID 25652989.
- ^ "Formal portrait of Mary Lyon by Godfrey Argent". London: The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 8 July 2019.
- ^ Mary Lyon Entry in Who named it?. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
- ^ Oakes, Elizabeth H. Lyon, Mary Frances. International Encyclopedia of Women Scientists. New York, NY. Facts on File, Inc. 2002. Facts on File, Inc. Science Online. factsonfile.com.
- S2CID 4146768.
- PMID 28947664.
- PMID 28947653.
- ^ "Genetics and Medicine Historical Network".
- ^ PMID 20107603.
- ^ a b Peter Harper (11 October 2004). "Mary Lyon". Genetics and Medicine Historical Network, Cardiff University.
- ^ a b c "Mary Lyon Award". International Mammalian Genome Society.
- ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8.
- ^ Mary F. Lyon's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
- S2CID 30795392.
- S2CID 39402646.
- PMID 9445416.
- PMID 14467629.