Fellow

Professor Neil Brockdorff is Group Leader at the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London; Neil Brockdorff’s contributions to epigenetic control of gene expression place him amongst the top international contributors in this high profile area. In particular, he is arguably the leading authority on the mechanisms of X-chromosome inactivation in mammals. Working with Sohaila Rastan, he first identified Xist RNA as the controlling factor in X-chromosome inactivation and over subsequent years he has elegantly unravelled how Xist RNA silences the X chromosome, the protein factors involved and how the process is timed and controlled. His research has implications for general mechanisms underlying epigenetics, development and differentiation. For example, he first demonstrated a role for ubiquination of histone H2A, a common modification, and his recent work on XX ES (embryonic stem) cells has led to the critical finding that there is genome-wide loss of methylation which underlies karyotype instability.