Oxford geneticist wins research accolade
4 April 2007
Oxfordshire scientist Dr Mary Lyon of the Medical Research Council, is one of three researchers to be presented with the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Science in April. This year the awards are being presented for pioneering work on how genes control the way an embryo develops. Discoveries made at the basic level often provide a foundation for research into human health.
The medals are presented annually by Brandeis University in the USA on the recommendation of a panel of outstanding scientists selected by the Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center in America. Awards are only given to scientists for the most striking discoveries.
More than 50 years ago, Dr Lyon’s curiosity about a mouse’s unusual coat colour, led her to reveal the workings of a fundamental genetic mechanism called X-chromosome inactivation, a process now known as ‘Lyonisation’. This phenomenon is thought to have opened more lines of enquiry than any other recent biological concept. It has also improved scientists’ understanding of the underlying genetic events that lead to a number of medical conditions.
Professor James Haber of Brandis University presents Dr Mary Lyon with the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award
In 1961, Dr Lyon was working on the genetic effects of radiation, driven by concern at the time that atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons may pose a risk to human health. This crucial experiment led her to wonder what was causing the genetic mutation responsible for a mottled tortoise shell mouse coat rather than the usual plain unpatterned colour. From Dr Lyon’s curiosity, a research industry based on X-chromosome inactivation has grown. Some of these mutations will turn out to correspond to human diseases, some will tell scientists something about human development.
The X chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes found in all cells in many animal species, including humans, the other is called Y. Females carry two X chromosomes, males have one X and one Y. It was Dr Lyon who made the incredible discovery that one of the X -chromosomes is normally switched off during the development of a baby girl in the womb.
The award was presented to Dr Lyon at the Mammalian Genetics Unit, MRC Harwell on Monday 2nd April by Professor James Haber of Brandeis University. The other scientists who have been awarded the medal in 2007 are Professor Davor Solter, Director of the Max-Planck-Institute of Immunobiology, Freiburg in Germany and Professor Azim Surani Marshall-Walton Professor of the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge. Each will give a lecture and receive their awards at Brandeis University later this month.
About the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award
In 1971, the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research was established as an expression of the conviction that educational institutions have an important role to play in the encouragement and development of basic science as it applies to medicine. A $10,000 prize and a medallion accompanies each award. Since its inception, Brandeis University has placed great emphasis on basic science and its relationship to medicine. With the formation of the Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center, made possible by the generosity of Lewis S. Rosenstiel in 1968, research in basic medical science has been significantly expanded. These awards are viewed as a means of extending the Centre's support beyond the campus community.
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