Dr. Mary Lyon Mammalian Genetics Unit, Medical Research Council, UK

Mary Lyon was one of the foremost geneticists of the 20th century; she proposed the theory of X chromosome inactivation which has had a fundamental impact on our understanding and research into medical genetics. Our understanding of many X-linked diseases has been significantly improved and advanced by her work.... read more

She was the former head of the Genetics Division of the MRC Radiobiology Unit and had over 200 publications on various aspects of mammalian genetics. Her work with Toby Carter significantly advanced our understanding of mutagenesis, and Mary was particularly known for her work with mouse variants. She was responsible for the repository of mouse embryos at MRC Harwell which is an invaluable resource for biomedical research around the world.

She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1973 and received the society’s Royal medal in 1984. She received many other awards and honours during her career, and was also a Foreign Associate of the US Academy of Science. In 2004 The Mary Lyon Centre was opened, a facility dedicated to research in functional mouse genomics. Mary passed away on December 25th 2014, and is survived by her brother, Francis and sister, Julia. Her incredible contributions to genetic research will continue to shape our understanding of inherited diseases as we further our research in this field.