Sydney Brenner
Encyclopedia
Sydney Brenner, CH
FRS
(born 13 January 1927) is a South African biologist
and a 2002 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine
laureate, shared with H. Robert Horvitz
and John Sulston.
Brenner made significant contributions to work on the genetic code
, and other areas of molecular biology.
He established the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans
as a model organism
for the investigation of developmental biology
, and founded the Molecular Sciences Institute
in Berkeley
, California
, U.S.
.
, South Africa
. His parents were Jewish immigrants. His father came to South Africa from Lithuania
in 1910, and his mother, from Riga
, Latvia
, in 1922. Educated at Germiston High School and the University of the Witwatersrand
, he went on to complete a D.Phil.
from Exeter College, Oxford
.
.
, and Beryl M. Oughton, he was one of the first people in April 1953 to see the model of the structure of DNA
, constructed by Francis Crick
and James Watson
; at the time he and the other scientists were working at Oxford University
's Chemistry Department. All were impressed by the new DNA model, especially Brenner who subsequently worked with Crick at Cambridge
in the Cavendish Laboratory
and the new Laboratory of Molecular Biology
.
Brenner made several seminal contributions to the emerging field of molecular biology
in the 1960s. The first was proving that all overlapping genetic coding sequences
were impossible. This insight separated the coding function from structural constraints as proposed in a clever code by George Gamov. This led Francis Crick to propose the concept of the adaptor or as it is now known "transfer RNA
(tRNA)". The physical separation between the anticodon and the amino acid on a tRNA is the basis for the unidirectional flow of information in coded biological systems. This is commonly known as the central dogma of molecular biology
i.e. that information flows from nucleic acid to protein and never from protein to nucleic acid. Following this adaptor insight, Brenner proposed the concept of a messenger RNA, based on correctly interpreting the work of Elliot "Ken" Volkin and Larry Astrachan [Volkin, E. & Astrachan, L. Phosphorus incorporation in Escherichia coli ribonucleic acid after infection with bacteriophage T2. Virol. 2, 149-161 (1956)]. Then, with Francis Crick, Leslie Barnett
and Richard J. Watts-Tobin, Brenner genetically demonstrated the triplet nature of the code of protein translation through the Crick, Brenner, Barnett, Watts-Tobin et al. experiment of 1961
, which discovered frameshift mutation
s. This insight provided early elucidation of the nature of the genetic code
. Leslie Barnett also helped set up Sydney Brenner's laboratory in Singapore, many years later.
Brenner, with George Pieczenik, created the first computer matrix analysis of nucleic acids using TRAC, which Brenner continues to use. Crick, Brenner, Klug and Pieczenik returned to their early work on deciphering the genetic code with a pioneering paper on the origin of protein synthesis, where constraints on mRNA and tRNA co-evolved allowing for a five-base interaction with a flip of the anticodon loop, and thereby creating a triplet code translating system without requiring a ribosome
. This model requires a partially overlapping code. This is the only published paper in scientific history with three independent Nobel laureates collaborating as authors.
Brenner then focused on establishing Caenorhabditis elegans
as a model organism
for the investigation of animal development
including neural development
. Brenner chose this 1 millimeter-long soil roundworm mainly because it is simple, is easy to grow in bulk populations, and turned out to be quite convenient for genetic analysis. For this work, he shared the 2002 Nobel Prize
in Physiology or Medicine with H. Robert Horvitz
and John Sulston. The title of his Nobel lecture on December 2002, "Nature's Gift to Science," is a homage to this modest nematode
; in it, he considered that having chosen the right organism turned out to be as important as having addressed the right problems to work on. In 2002, he won the Dan David Prize
(that was directed by Professor Gad Barzilai
) and the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology
. In recognition of his pioneering role in starting what is now a global research community that work on C. elegans, another closely related nematode was given the scientific name Caenorhabditis brenneri
.
Brenner founded the Molecular Sciences Institute
in Berkeley, California
in 1996. He is currently associated with the Salk Institute, the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
, the Singapore Biomedical Research Council
, the Janelia Farm Research Campus
, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
. In August 2005, Brenner was appointed president of the Okinawa Insitute of Science and Technology. He is also on the Board of Scientific Governors at The Scripps Research Institute
. A scientific biography of Brenner was written by Errol Friedberg
in the US, for publication by CSHL Press in October 2010: a companion biography to that of Francis Crick by Robert Olby
published in August 2009.
Known for his penetrating scientific insight and acerbic wit, Brenner, for many years, penned a regular column ("Loose Ends") in the journal Current Biology. This column was so popular that "Loose ends from Current Biology", a compilation, was published in 1997 by Current Biology Ltd.,(ISBN 1 85922 325 7) and is now a collectors' item. Brenner wrote "A Life In Science" (ISBN 0-9540278-0-9) paperback published by Biomed Central Ltd. in 2001. Brenner is also noted for his generosity of ideas and the great number of students and colleagues his ideas have stimulated.
Brenner was awarded the National Science and Technology Medal by A*STAR, Singapore on 11 October 2006 for his distinguished and strategic contributions to the development of Singapore’s scientific capability and culture, particularly in the biomedical sciences sector.
According to the European plan (sometimes referred to as the British plan), the function of cells is determined by its genetic
lineage. Therefore, a mother cell with a specific function (for instance, interpreting visual information) would create daughter cells with similar functions.
According to the American plan, a brain cell's function is determined by the function of its neighbors after cell migration
. If a cell migrates to an area in the visual cortex
, the cell will adopt the function of its neighboring visual cortex cells, guided by chemical and axonal signals from these cells. If the same cell migrates to the auditory cortex, it would develop functions related to hearing
, regardless of its genetic lineage.
Order of the Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
FRS
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(born 13 January 1927) is a South African biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
and a 2002 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
laureate, shared with H. Robert Horvitz
H. Robert Horvitz
Howard Robert Horvitz is an American biologist best known for his research on the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans.-Life:Horvitz did his undergraduate studies at MIT in 1968, where he joined Alpha Epsilon Pi...
and John Sulston.
Brenner made significant contributions to work on the genetic code
Genetic code
The genetic code is the set of rules by which information encoded in genetic material is translated into proteins by living cells....
, and other areas of molecular biology.
He established the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living, transparent nematode , about 1 mm in length, which lives in temperate soil environments. Research into the molecular and developmental biology of C. elegans was begun in 1974 by Sydney Brenner and it has since been used extensively as a model...
as a model organism
Model organism
A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the organism model will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Model organisms are in vivo models and are widely used to...
for the investigation of developmental biology
Developmental biology
Developmental biology is the study of the process by which organisms grow and develop. Modern developmental biology studies the genetic control of cell growth, differentiation and "morphogenesis", which is the process that gives rise to tissues, organs and anatomy.- Related fields of study...
, and founded the Molecular Sciences Institute
Molecular Sciences Institute
The Molecular Sciences Institute is an independent non-profit research laboratory that combines genomic experimentation with computer modeling located in Berkeley, California, USA. It was founded by Dr. Sydney Brenner in 1996...
in Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Biography
Brenner was born in the small town of GermistonGermiston, Gauteng
Germiston is a city in the East Rand of Gauteng in South Africa. Germiston is now the seat of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality which includes much of the East Rand, and is also considered part of Greater Johannesburg.-History:...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. His parents were Jewish immigrants. His father came to South Africa from Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
in 1910, and his mother, from Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, in 1922. Educated at Germiston High School and the University of the Witwatersrand
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
, he went on to complete a D.Phil.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
.
Family
He was married to Dr. May Brenner (née Covitz, subsequently Balkind) from December 1952 until her death in January 2010; their children include Belinda, Carla, Stefan, and his stepson Jonathan Balkind from his wife's first marriage. He lives in Ely, CambridgeshireEly, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
.
Career
Together with Jack Dunitz, Dorothy Hodgkin, Leslie OrgelLeslie Orgel
Leslie Eleazer Orgel FRS was a British chemist.Born in London, England, Orgel received his B.A. in chemistry with first class honours from Oxford University in 1949...
, and Beryl M. Oughton, he was one of the first people in April 1953 to see the model of the structure of DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
, constructed by Francis Crick
Francis Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
and James Watson
James D. Watson
James Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick...
; at the time he and the other scientists were working at Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
's Chemistry Department. All were impressed by the new DNA model, especially Brenner who subsequently worked with Crick at Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in the Cavendish Laboratory
Cavendish Laboratory
The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the university's School of Physical Sciences. It was opened in 1874 as a teaching laboratory....
and the new Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Laboratory of Molecular Biology
The Laboratory of Molecular Biology is a research institute in Cambridge, England, which was at the forefront of the revolution in molecular biology which occurred in the 1950–60s, since then it remains a major medical research laboratory with a much broader focus.-Early beginnings: 1947-61:Max...
.
Brenner made several seminal contributions to the emerging field of molecular biology
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
in the 1960s. The first was proving that all overlapping genetic coding sequences
Coding region
The coding region of a gene, also known as the coding sequence or CDS, is that portion of a gene's DNA or RNA, composed of exons, that codes for protein. The region is bounded nearer the 5' end by a start codon and nearer the 3' end with a stop codon...
were impossible. This insight separated the coding function from structural constraints as proposed in a clever code by George Gamov. This led Francis Crick to propose the concept of the adaptor or as it is now known "transfer RNA
Transfer RNA
Transfer RNA is an adaptor molecule composed of RNA, typically 73 to 93 nucleotides in length, that is used in biology to bridge the three-letter genetic code in messenger RNA with the twenty-letter code of amino acids in proteins. The role of tRNA as an adaptor is best understood by...
(tRNA)". The physical separation between the anticodon and the amino acid on a tRNA is the basis for the unidirectional flow of information in coded biological systems. This is commonly known as the central dogma of molecular biology
Central dogma of molecular biology
The central dogma of molecular biology was first articulated by Francis Crick in 1958 and re-stated in a Nature paper published in 1970:In other words, the process of producing proteins is irreversible: a protein cannot be used to create DNA....
i.e. that information flows from nucleic acid to protein and never from protein to nucleic acid. Following this adaptor insight, Brenner proposed the concept of a messenger RNA, based on correctly interpreting the work of Elliot "Ken" Volkin and Larry Astrachan [Volkin, E. & Astrachan, L. Phosphorus incorporation in Escherichia coli ribonucleic acid after infection with bacteriophage T2. Virol. 2, 149-161 (1956)]. Then, with Francis Crick, Leslie Barnett
Leslie Barnett
Leslie Barnett was a British biologist born in London, together with Francis Crick, Sydney Brenner and Richard J. Watts-Tobin genetically demonstrated the triplet nature of the code of protein translation through the Crick, Brenner, Barnett, Watts-Tobin et al...
and Richard J. Watts-Tobin, Brenner genetically demonstrated the triplet nature of the code of protein translation through the Crick, Brenner, Barnett, Watts-Tobin et al. experiment of 1961
Crick, Brenner et al. experiment
The Crick, Brenner, Barnett, Watts-Tobin experiment of 1961 was a scientific experiment performed in 1961 by Francis Crick, Sydney Brenner, Leslie Barnett and R.J. Watts-Tobin. They demonstrated that three bases of DNA code for one amino acid in the genetic code...
, which discovered frameshift mutation
Frameshift mutation
A frameshift mutation is a genetic mutation caused by indels of a number of nucleotides that is not evenly divisible by three from a DNA sequence...
s. This insight provided early elucidation of the nature of the genetic code
Genetic code
The genetic code is the set of rules by which information encoded in genetic material is translated into proteins by living cells....
. Leslie Barnett also helped set up Sydney Brenner's laboratory in Singapore, many years later.
Brenner, with George Pieczenik, created the first computer matrix analysis of nucleic acids using TRAC, which Brenner continues to use. Crick, Brenner, Klug and Pieczenik returned to their early work on deciphering the genetic code with a pioneering paper on the origin of protein synthesis, where constraints on mRNA and tRNA co-evolved allowing for a five-base interaction with a flip of the anticodon loop, and thereby creating a triplet code translating system without requiring a ribosome
Ribosome
A ribosome is a component of cells that assembles the twenty specific amino acid molecules to form the particular protein molecule determined by the nucleotide sequence of an RNA molecule....
. This model requires a partially overlapping code. This is the only published paper in scientific history with three independent Nobel laureates collaborating as authors.
Brenner then focused on establishing Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living, transparent nematode , about 1 mm in length, which lives in temperate soil environments. Research into the molecular and developmental biology of C. elegans was begun in 1974 by Sydney Brenner and it has since been used extensively as a model...
as a model organism
Model organism
A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the organism model will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Model organisms are in vivo models and are widely used to...
for the investigation of animal development
Developmental biology
Developmental biology is the study of the process by which organisms grow and develop. Modern developmental biology studies the genetic control of cell growth, differentiation and "morphogenesis", which is the process that gives rise to tissues, organs and anatomy.- Related fields of study...
including neural development
Neural development
Neural development comprises the processes that generate, shape, and reshape the nervous system, from the earliest stages of embryogenesis to the final years of life. The study of neural development aims to describe the cellular basis of brain development and to address the underlying mechanisms...
. Brenner chose this 1 millimeter-long soil roundworm mainly because it is simple, is easy to grow in bulk populations, and turned out to be quite convenient for genetic analysis. For this work, he shared the 2002 Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in Physiology or Medicine with H. Robert Horvitz
H. Robert Horvitz
Howard Robert Horvitz is an American biologist best known for his research on the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans.-Life:Horvitz did his undergraduate studies at MIT in 1968, where he joined Alpha Epsilon Pi...
and John Sulston. The title of his Nobel lecture on December 2002, "Nature's Gift to Science," is a homage to this modest nematode
Nematode
The nematodes or roundworms are the most diverse phylum of pseudocoelomates, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 28,000 have been described, of which over 16,000 are parasitic. It has been estimated that the total number of nematode...
; in it, he considered that having chosen the right organism turned out to be as important as having addressed the right problems to work on. In 2002, he won the Dan David Prize
Dan David Prize
The Dan David Prize annually awards 3 prizes of $1 million each awarded by the Dan David Foundation and Tel Aviv University to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution in the fields of science, technology, culture or social welfare. There are three prize categories - past, present and...
(that was directed by Professor Gad Barzilai
Gad Barzilai
Gad Barzilai is a scholar of political science and law, famous for his work on the politics of law, human rights and communities. He is a professor of law, societies and justice, and international studies at University of Washington...
) and the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology
March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology
The March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology is awarded once a year by the March of Dimes. It carries a $250,000 award "to an investigator whose research brings us closer to the day when all babies will be born healthy." It also includes a medal in the shape of a Roosevelt dime.- Laureates...
. In recognition of his pioneering role in starting what is now a global research community that work on C. elegans, another closely related nematode was given the scientific name Caenorhabditis brenneri
Caenorhabditis brenneri
Caenorhabditis brenneri is a small nematode, closely related to the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans and to other species in the same genus. Its genome is being sequenced by Washington University in St. Louis Genome Sequencing Center . This species has previously been referred to as C. sp 4...
.
Brenner founded the Molecular Sciences Institute
Molecular Sciences Institute
The Molecular Sciences Institute is an independent non-profit research laboratory that combines genomic experimentation with computer modeling located in Berkeley, California, USA. It was founded by Dr. Sydney Brenner in 1996...
in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
in 1996. He is currently associated with the Salk Institute, the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology may refer to:*Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology , a research institute in Porto, Portugal.*Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology , a research institute in Singapore....
, the Singapore Biomedical Research Council
Biomedical Research Council
The Biomedical Research Council is a research council in Singapore, established in October 2000. This research council supports, oversees and coordinates public sector biomedical research and development activities in Singapore...
, the Janelia Farm Research Campus
Janelia Farm Research Campus
The Janelia Farm Research Campus is a research campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute that opened in October 2006. The campus is located in Loudoun County, Virginia, near the town of Ashburn...
, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a United States non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded by the American businessman Howard Hughes in 1953. It is one of the largest private funding organizations for biological and medical research in the United...
. In August 2005, Brenner was appointed president of the Okinawa Insitute of Science and Technology. He is also on the Board of Scientific Governors at The Scripps Research Institute
The Scripps Research Institute
The Scripps Research Institute is an American medical research facility that focuses on research in the basic biomedical sciences. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, with a sister facility in Jupiter, Florida, the institute is home to 3,000 scientists, technicians, graduate students, and...
. A scientific biography of Brenner was written by Errol Friedberg
Errol Friedberg
Errol Clive Friedberg is a biologist and historian of science in the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas...
in the US, for publication by CSHL Press in October 2010: a companion biography to that of Francis Crick by Robert Olby
Robert Olby
Robert Cecil Olby is a research professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Formerly at the University of Leeds, UK, Robert Olby is known as a historian of 19th and 20th century biology, his special fields being genetics and molecular biology...
published in August 2009.
Known for his penetrating scientific insight and acerbic wit, Brenner, for many years, penned a regular column ("Loose Ends") in the journal Current Biology. This column was so popular that "Loose ends from Current Biology", a compilation, was published in 1997 by Current Biology Ltd.,(ISBN 1 85922 325 7) and is now a collectors' item. Brenner wrote "A Life In Science" (ISBN 0-9540278-0-9) paperback published by Biomed Central Ltd. in 2001. Brenner is also noted for his generosity of ideas and the great number of students and colleagues his ideas have stimulated.
Brenner was awarded the National Science and Technology Medal by A*STAR, Singapore on 11 October 2006 for his distinguished and strategic contributions to the development of Singapore’s scientific capability and culture, particularly in the biomedical sciences sector.
"American plan" and "European plan"
The "American plan" and "European Plan" were proposed by Sydney Brenner as competing models for the way brain cells determine their neural functions.According to the European plan (sometimes referred to as the British plan), the function of cells is determined by its genetic
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
lineage. Therefore, a mother cell with a specific function (for instance, interpreting visual information) would create daughter cells with similar functions.
According to the American plan, a brain cell's function is determined by the function of its neighbors after cell migration
Cell migration
Cell migration is a central process in the development and maintenance of multicellular organisms. Tissue formation during embryonic development, wound healing and immune responses all require the orchestrated movement of cells in particular directions to specific locations...
. If a cell migrates to an area in the visual cortex
Visual cortex
The visual cortex of the brain is the part of the cerebral cortex responsible for processing visual information. It is located in the occipital lobe, in the back of the brain....
, the cell will adopt the function of its neighboring visual cortex cells, guided by chemical and axonal signals from these cells. If the same cell migrates to the auditory cortex, it would develop functions related to hearing
Hearing (sense)
Hearing is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations through an organ such as the ear. It is one of the traditional five senses...
, regardless of its genetic lineage.
See also
- ApoptosisApoptosisApoptosis is the process of programmed cell death that may occur in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes and death. These changes include blebbing, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and chromosomal DNA fragmentation...
and History and highlights in apoptosis researchHistory and highlights in apoptosis researchApoptosis is the process of programmed cell death. From its early conceptual beginnings in the 1950s, it has exploded as an area of research within the life sciences community...
. - History of RNA biologyHistory of RNA biologyNumerous key discoveries in biology have emerged from studies of RNA , including seminal work in the fields of biochemistry, genetics, microbiology, molecular biology, molecular evolution and structural biology. As of 2010, 30 scientists have been awarded Nobel Prizes for experimental work that...
- List of Jewish Nobel laureates
- List of RNA biologists
Books by Sydney Brenner
- "Loose Ends" : Collection of Loose Ends/False Starts columns by 'Uncle Syd.' from January 1994 to December 2000 (Current Biology, 1997) ISBN 18592232571/1-85922-325-7
- 'My Life in Science', with Lewis Wolpert, edited by Errol C. Friedberg and Eleanor Lawrence, BioMed Central 2001, 199pp ISBN 0-9540278-0-9
Books about Sydney Brenner
- "Sydney Brenner: A Biography" by Errol FriedbergErrol FriedbergErrol Clive Friedberg is a biologist and historian of science in the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas...
, pub. CSHL Press October 2010, ISBN 0879699477.
Books referring to Sydney Brenner
- Soraya De Chadarevian; Designs For Life: Molecular Biology After World War II, CUP 2002, 444 pp; ISBN 0-521-57078-6
- Francis CrickFrancis CrickFrancis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
; What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery (Basic Books reprint edition, 1990) ISBN 0-465-09138-5 - Georgina Ferry; 'Max Perutz and the Secret of Life', (Chatto & Windus 2007) 352pp, ISBN 9780701176952. For uncaptioned picture.
- John Finch; 'A Nobel Fellow On Every Floor', Medical Research Council 2008, 381 pp, ISBN 978-1840469-40-0; this book is all about the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge.
- Horace Freeland Judson, "The Eighth Day of Creation. Makers of the Revolution in Biology"; Penguin Books 1995, first published by Jonathan Cape, 1977; ISBN 0-14-017800-7.
- Robert OlbyRobert OlbyRobert Cecil Olby is a research professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Formerly at the University of Leeds, UK, Robert Olby is known as a historian of 19th and 20th century biology, his special fields being genetics and molecular biology...
; "Francis Crick: Hunter of Life's Secrets", Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press,ISBN 978-087969798-3, published on 25 August 2009. - Max PerutzMax PerutzMax Ferdinand Perutz, OM, CH, CBE, FRS was an Austrian-born British molecular biologist, who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with John Kendrew, for their studies of the structures of hemoglobin and globular proteins...
; 'What a Time I am Having: Selected Letters..', CSHL Press 2008, 506pp ISBN 978-0-87969-64-5. For captioned picture. - Matt RidleyMatt RidleyMatthew White Ridley, FRSL, FMedSci is an English journalist, writer, biologist, and businessman.-Career:...
; Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code (Eminent Lives) first published in June 2006 in the US and then in the UK September 2006, by HarperCollins Publishers; 192 pp, ISBN 0-06-082333-X; in paperback, by Atlas Books (with index), ISBN 978-0-00-721331-3. - Lewis WolpertLewis WolpertLewis Wolpert CBE FRS FRSL is a developmental biologist, author, and broadcaster.-Career:Wolpert was educated at the University of Witwatersrand , at Imperial College London, and at King's College London...
; How We Live and Why We Die, Faber and Faber 2009, 240 pp; ISBN 978-0-571-23912-2