| RefNo | EC/1973/19 |
| Previous numbers | Cert XIX, 93 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Lyon, Mary Frances: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Description | Citation typed. Note attached to certificate detailing name, date and place of birth and education. |
| Citation | Distinguished for many important contributions to mammalian genetics, notably on the mutagenic effects of irradiation as measured in mice, and on the building of the hypothesis that one of the two X chromosomes of the female is inactivated at an early stage of embryogenesis. The hypothesis, which is now almost universally accepted as proved, offered a solution to the long standing problem of X-dosage compensation in the female mammal, has thrown much light on the nature of sex-chromosome aneuploidy, has influenced ideas on the origin of certain tumours and of chronic granulocytic leukaemia in man, and has provided food for thought about the fundamental mechanism of switching off genes. Lyonisation, as others were quick to call the phenomenon, has perhaps opened more lines of enquiry and stimulated more work than any recent biological concept. |
| AccessStatus | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA165 | Lyon; Mary Frances (1925 - 2014); geneticist | 1925 - 2014 |