In 1961, Mary Lyon proposed that one of the two X chromosomes in female cells, selected at random, is stably inactivated during early embryo development, and that the inactive state, once established, is then propagated through cell division throughout the lifetime of the animal. X-chromosome inactivation has provided a powerful model system for understanding epigenetic regulation of the genome. The mechanisms involved in X inactivation, for example non-coding RNAs, chromatin modifications and DNA methylation are of central importance in the processes of differentiation, development and reprogramming in higher organisms. This meeting brings together experts in this exciting field to exchange on the latest breakthroughs in X-inactivation research and also to reflect on the life and work of Mary Lyon, who passed away in 2014.
A publication of this meeting is now available in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Biological Sciences.
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