Mary Lyon

Biography

Mary Lyon was a British geneticist who proposed the Lyon hypothesis in 1961 — that one of the two X chromosomes in female mammals is randomly inactivated in each cell during early development. This fundamental concept of X-chromosome inactivation, now known as lyonization, explains many genetic phenomena including why female carriers of X-linked diseases can show variable symptoms. Her discovery has had profound implications for understanding X-linked genetic disorders.

玛丽·莱昂是一位英国遗传学家，1961年提出了莱昂假说——在哺乳动物雌性的每个细胞中，两条X染色体中的一条在早期发育过程中被随机失活。这一X染色体失活的基本概念（现称为莱昂化）解释了许多遗传现象，包括为什么X连锁疾病的女性携带者可能表现出不同程度的症状。她的发现对理解X连锁遗传疾病具有深远意义。

Key Achievements

• Proposed the Lyon hypothesis of X-chromosome inactivation (1961)

  提出X染色体失活的莱昂假说（1961年）

• Concept now known as lyonization in her honor

  该概念以她的名字命名为'莱昂化'

• Transformed understanding of X-linked genetic disorders

  改变了对X连锁遗传疾病的理解

References & Citations

1. Wikipedia: Mary Lyon — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Lyon_(geneticist)
2. Lyon, M.F. 'Gene Action in the X-chromosome of the Mouse,' Nature, 1961.