Sydney Brenner

13 January 1927 – 5 April 2019

Sydney Brenner (1927–2019) was a South African-born biologist who helped establish the foundations of molecular biology, contributing to the discovery of messenger RNA and the triplet nature of the genetic code, and who introduced the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism. He shared the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with H. Robert Horvitz and John Sulston for work on organ development and programmed cell death.

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Life events

Born in Germiston, South Africa
13 January 1927

Born in Germiston, near Johannesburg, to Jewish immigrant parents from Lithuania and Latvia.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Entered the University of the Witwatersrand at 15
1942

Began medical studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg on a scholarship at the age of fifteen.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Qualified in medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand
1951

Completed his MB BCh degree after an interlude studying anatomy and physiology.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married May Covitz
1952

Married May Covitz, a psychologist, with whom he had three children; the marriage lasted until her death in 2010.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Earned a DPhil from the University of Oxford
1954

Completed doctoral research in physical chemistry at Exeter College, Oxford, under Cyril Hinshelwood.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Joined the MRC unit at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge
1956

Moved to Cambridge to work alongside Francis Crick, sharing an office with him for two decades at what became the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Co-discovered messenger RNA and the triplet genetic code
1961

With François Jacob and Matthew Meselson he demonstrated the existence of messenger RNA, and with Crick showed that the genetic code is read in triplets.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Established Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism
1974

His paper The genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans laid out the nematode as a system for studying development and the nervous system.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
2002

Shared the prize with H. Robert Horvitz and John Sulston for discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in Singapore
5 April 2019

Died in Singapore, where he had spent his later years helping to build the country's biomedical research sector, at the age of 92.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓