#geneticists

Mary F. Lyon was born in 1925 in Norwich, England. Lyon was one of the 20th century's most important geneticists. She is known for her discovery of x-chromosome inactivation. This breakthrough not only yielded new insights into x-linked hereditary diseases, but also gave rise to a new field of scientific inquiry and became a foundational part of biological understanding. Lyon also made significant contributions to the understanding of environmental mutagenesis. She received many awards and honors for her trailblazing scientific work, including the Wolf Prize, the Royal Medal, and the Canada Gairdner International Award.

DNA has moved beyond esoteric science and into the center of everyday conversations about identity, culture and politics. It’s also reshaping stories about the past as advances allow scientists to extract ancient DNA (aDNA) from skeletons found at archaeological sites.

With each ancient genetic sequence, scientists learn new information about how people moved around and interacted in the ancient world. In some cases, this has helped overturn theories and resolve age-old debates.

But the aDNA “revolution” has also caused friction among geneticists, archaeologists and others over how this research is done. As archaeologists who collaborate on aDNA projects, we’ve witnessed these tensions firsthand. What lies at the heart of this rift, and how can these disciplines work together to better research humanity’s past?

Botanist and geneticist Carrie Derick was born in 1862 in Clarenceville, Quebec. In 1891, Derick became the first woman on McGill University's academic staff. Her research was key in the early development of genetic studies at the university. When she was appointed professor of morphological botany in 1912, she became the first woman in Canada to hold a professorship. While at McGill, Derick introduced Canada's first university course on evolution and genetics.

Ruth Sager was born in 1918 in Chicago, Illinois. Sager was a geneticist whose research challenged the widespread view that all genetic information was located in the nucleus of the cell. Later in her career, at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, she conducted research on tumor suppressor genes. Sager was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1977.

Geneticist and zoologist Charlotte Auerbach was born in 1899 in Krefeld, Germany. Auerbach fled Nazi Germany and pursued her scientific ambitions in Scotland, where she would stay for the remainder of her career. She became best known for her discovery of genetic mutations in flies caused by mustard gas. In 1948, Auerbach won the Keith Prize from the Royal Society of Edinburgh for this research. From 1959 until 1969, she was Honorary Director at the Unit of Mutagenesis Research at Edinburgh University. In 1977, Auerbach won the Darwin Medal from the Royal Society.