Sydney Brenner (1927 - 2019) was a South African biologist, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
In the 1960s, Brenner made a significant contribution to the discovery of the triplet code for protein translation. In an experiment with the famous English physiologist Francis Crick, they discovered the so-called "frameshift mutations". Ultimately, this led to the subsequent disclosure of the genetic code.
After that, Brenner focused on the biology of Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism for studying developmental biology, including neural development. He chose this millimeter-long soil worm as a model because of its simple anatomy, ease of cultivation in large numbers, and, most importantly, because it proved to be exceptionally suitable for genetic analysis.
For his recent research, Sidney Brenner, along with Robert Horwitz and John Sulston, received the 2002 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for his discoveries in the genetic regulation of human organ development. His Nobel Lecture was entitled "A Natural Gift to Science" and was dedicated to a humble nematode that helped to reveal many features of organismal development, such as apoptosis.
In honor of Brenner's merits and his pioneering role in the overall research community working on C. elegans, another nematode related to C. elegans was named Caenorhabditis brenneri.
Brenner founded the Institute for Molecular Sciences, which is affiliated with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego.
