James Turner

James Turner trained on the UCL MB PhD program, completing his PhD at the Medical Research Council National Institute for Medical Research (MRC NIMR) with Paul Burgoyne, studying sex chromosome genetics. After completing his medical training, he continued his studies on sex chromosomes as a postdoctoral scientist, setting up his own lab at MRC NIMR in 2007, and moving to the Crick in 2017.

James’s lab work covers several topics related to the X and Y chromosome, including how sex chromosome abnormalities perturb embryo development and fertility, and how one X chromosome in each female cell is silenced by the process of X-chromosome inactivation. More recently, he has devised technologies to generate single-sex mouse litters, which could help reduce the unnecessary production and culling of animals of the undesired sex in research and agriculture, e.g., the egg laying industry.

His achievements have been acknowledged by election as an EMBO member, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society.