1945
Medical Research Council (MRC), sets up its Radiobiology Unit
1949
Mouse News Letter Archive
Mouse News Letter (MNL) was launched in 1949 as an informal bulletin of mouse genetics information, sponsored by the Nomenclature Committee.
MNL enabled mouse geneticists to report new mutants, results of mapping studies, research findings, holdings of mouse stocks. It published lists of known genes and the latest mouse map. On behalf of the Nomenclature Committee it printed mouse genetic nomenclature rules. The first issues were produced very simply on a duplicating machine and not all are easy to read.
Download Mouse News Letter Archive – April 1949 to November 1989
Download Mouse Genome Archive – February 1990 to December 1997
1961
Dr Mary Lyon
Dr Mary Lyon, working with the MRC, discovers X chromosome inactivation.
In recognition of her work, Mary Lyon was made a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 1984 received their Royal Medal, and has been awarded the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, the March of Dimes Prize and the Wolf Prize in Medicine. Her discovery has led to great advances in our understanding of X-linked inherited diseases such as haemophilia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, fragile X syndrome and certain cancers.
1975
Frozen Embryo and Sperm Archive is established
1985
Genetic imprinting in mice is discovered
1995
The Mammalian Genetics Unit
The Mammalian Genetics Unit (MGU) was first established in 1995 as part of an expansion of the genetics division at MRC Harwell.
Research here is based around lifetime studies, from development to ageing. Using mouse models developed within the Mary Lyon Centre, the MGU conducts research into developmental disorders and age-related conditions such as diabetes, deafness and neurodegeneration. The findings from many of these research programmes are now moving towards the clinic. For example, genes first identified by researchers at the MGU now form part of the Genetics of Otitis Media Study, which seeks to identify genes responsible for the most common cause of hearing loss in children.
2004
The Mary Lyon Centre
The Mary Lyon Centre first established. The centre has been named in recognition of the achievements of Mary Lyon
The Mary Lyon Centre is a national facility for mouse functional genomics, providing world-class expertise and tools to generate mouse models of human disease for MRC Harwell and the wider research community.
2010
Discover that the FTO gene leads to obesity
