Brenner was born in the town ofGermiston in the thenTransvaal (today inGauteng), South Africa, on 13 January 1927.[2] His parents, Leah[24] (née Blecher) and Morris Brenner, were Jewish immigrants. His father, a cobbler, came to South Africa from Lithuania in 1910, and his mother fromRiga, Latvia, in 1922. He had one sister, Phyllis and also one brother, Isaac.[25][26]
He was educated atGermiston High School[2] and theUniversity of the Witwatersrand. Having joined the university at the age of 15, it was noted during his second year that he would be too young to qualify for the practice of medicine at the conclusion of his six-year medical course, and he was therefore allowed to complete a Bachelor of Science degree in Anatomy and Physiology. During this time he was taught physical chemistry byJoel Mandelstam, microscopy byAlfred Oettle and neurology byHarold Daitz. He also received an introduction to anthropology and paleontology fromRaymond Dart andRobert Broom. The histologistJoseph Gillman and director of research in the Anatomy Department persuaded Brenner to continue towards an honours degree and beyond towards an MSc. Brenner accepted though this would mean he would not graduate from medical school and his bursary would be discontinued. He supported himself during this time by working as a laboratory technician. It was during this time, in 1945, that Brenner would publish his first scientific works. His masters thesis was in the field ofcytogenetics and publications during this time in the field Brenner would later callCell Physiology.[25]
In 1946Wilfred Le Gros Clark invited Brenner to his Department of Anatomy in Oxford, during a visit to South Africa. Brenner was persuaded to finish his medical education instead. Brenner returned to medical school where he failed Medicine, nearly failed Surgery and achieved a First Class in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Six months later Brenner had finished repeating Medicine and Surgery and in 1951 received the degrees ofBachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBCh).[25]
Brenner made several seminal contributions to the emerging field ofmolecular biology in the 1960s (seePhage group). The first was to prove that all overlapping geneticcoding sequences were impossible. This insight separated the coding function from structural constraints as proposed in a clever code byGeorge Gamow. This led Francis Crick to propose the concept of a hypothetical molecule (later identified astransfer RNA or tRNA) that transfers the genetic information from RNA to proteins. Brenner gave the name "adaptor hypothesis" in 1955.[31] The physical separation between theanticodon 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 thecentral dogma of molecular biology, i.e. information flows from nucleic acid to protein and never from protein to nucleic acid. Following this adaptor insight, Brenner conceived of the concept ofmessenger RNA during an April 1960 conversation with Crick andFrançois Jacob, and together with Jacob andMatthew Meselson went on to prove its existence later that summer.[32] Then, with Crick,Leslie Barnett, and Richard J. Watts-Tobin, Brenner genetically demonstrated the triplet nature of the code ofprotein translation through theCrick, Brenner, Barnett, Watts-Tobin et al. experiment of 1961,[33] which discoveredframeshift mutations. Brenner collaborating with Sarabhai, Stretton and Bolle in 1964, usingamber mutants defective in thebacteriophage T4D major head protein, showed that thenucleotide sequence of thegene is co-linear with the amino acid sequence of the encoded polypeptide chain.[34]
Together with the decoding work ofMarshall Warren Nirenberg and others, the discovery of the triplet nature of thegenetic code was critical to deciphering the code.[35] Barnett helped set up Sydney Brenner's laboratory inSingapore, many years later.[36][37]
Brenner, with George Pieczenik,[38] created the first computer matrix analysis of nucleic acids using TRAC, which Brenner continued 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 aribosome. This model requires a partially overlapping code.[39] The published scientific paper is extremely rare in that its collaborators include three authors who independently became Nobel laureates.[40]
Brenner then focused on establishing a free-living roundwormCaenorhabditis elegans as amodel organism for the investigation of animaldevelopment includingneural development. He chose this 1-millimeter-long soilroundworm mainly because it is simple, is easy to grow in bulk populations, and turned out to be quite convenient for genetic analysis. One of the key methods for identifying important function genes was the screen for roundworms that had some functional defect, such as beinguncoordinated, leading to the identification of new sets of proteins, such as theUNC proteins. For this work, he shared the 2002Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine withH. Robert Horvitz andJohn Sulston. The title of his Nobel lecture in December 2002, "Nature's Gift to Science", is a homage to thisnematode; 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.[41] In fact, theC. elegans community has grown rapidly in recent decades with researchers working on a wide spectrum of problems.[42]
Known for his penetrating scientific insight and acerbic wit, Brenner, for many years, authored a regular column ("Loose Ends") in the journalCurrent Biology.[45][46] This column was so popular that "Loose ends from Current Biology", a compilation, was published by Current Biology Ltd.[47] and became a collector's item. Brenner wrote "A Life in Science",[48] a paperback published byBioMed Central. He is also noted for his generosity with ideas and the great number of students and colleagues his ideas have stimulated.[49][50][51][52]
In 2017, Brenner co-organized a seminal lecture series in Singapore describing ten logarithmic scales of time from theBig Bang to the present, spanning the appearance of multicellular life forms, the evolution of humans, and the emergence of language, culture and technology.[53] Prominent scientists and thinkers, includingW. Brian Arthur,Svante Pääbo,Helga Nowotny andJack Szostak, spoke during the lecture series. In 2018, the lectures were adapted into a popular science book titledSydney Brenner's 10-on-10: The Chronicles of Evolution, published by Wildtype Books.[54]
Brenner also gave four lectures on the history of molecular biology, its impact on neuroscience and the great scientific questions that lie ahead.[55] The lectures were adapted into the book,In the Spirit of Science: Lectures by Sydney Brenner on DNA, Worms and Brains.[56]
The "American plan" and "European plan" were proposed by Sydney Brenner as competing models for the way brain cells determine their neural functions.[16][57][58] According to the European plan (sometimes referred to as the British plan), the function of cells is determined by theirgenetic lineage. According to the American plan, a cell's function is determined by the function of its neighbours aftercell migration. Further research has shown that most species follow some combination of these methods, albeit in varying degrees, to transfer information to new cells.[59][60]
In recognition of his pioneering role in starting what is now a global research community that work onC. elegans, another closely related nematode was given the scientific nameCaenorhabditis brenneri.[67]
The National Science and Technology Medal by theAgency for Science, Technology and Research awarded Brenner in 2006 for his distinguished and strategic contributions to the development of Singapore's scientific capability and culture, particularly in the biomedical sciences sector.
In 2008, the University of the Witwatersrand named the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience (SBIMB) in his honour.[68]
Brenner was married to May Brenner (née Covitz, subsequently Balkind)[2] from December 1952 until her death in January 2010;[2] their children include Belinda, Carla, Stefan, and his stepson Jonathan Balkind from his wife's first marriage to Marcus Balkind. He lived inEly, Cambridgeshire.[70][71] He was an atheist.[72]
Brenner died on 5 April 2019, in Singapore, at the age of 92.[10][73][74]
^abThe Science Times Book of the Brain 1998. Edited by Nicholas Wade. The Lyons Press
^Horace Freeland JudsonThe Eighth Day of Creation (1979), pp. 10–11Makers of the Revolution in Biology; Penguin Books 1995, first published by Jonathan Cape, 1977;ISBN0-14-017800-7.
^de Chadarevian, Soraya (2009). "Interview with Sydney Brenner".Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences.40 (1):65–71.doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2008.12.008.ISSN1369-8486.PMID19268875.
^John Finch; 'A Nobel Fellow on Every Floor', Medical Research Council 2008;ISBN978-1-84046-940-0 This book is all about the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge.
^Olby, Robert,Francis Crick: Hunter of Life's Secrets, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2009, Chapter 10, pg. 181;ISBN978-0-87969-798-3
^Sarabhai AS, Stretton AO, Brenner S, Bolle A. Co-linearity of the gene with the polypeptide chain. Nature. 1964 Jan 4;201:13-7. doi: 10.1038/201013a0. PMID 14085558
^Crick won a Nobel prize in 1962, Brenner in 2002, and Klug in 1982. However, this is not the only case. SeeBarton, D. H. R.; Jeger, O.; Prelog, V.; Woodward, R. B. (March 1954). "The constitutions of cevine and some related alkaloids".Experientia.10 (3):81–90.doi:10.1007/BF02158513.PMID13161888.S2CID27430632. Barton (1969), Prelog (1975) and Woodward (1965) all became Nobel winners.
^Sydney Brenner on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture 8 December 2002Nature's Gift to Science
^Brenner, Sydney; Sejnowski, Terrence (2018).In the Spirit of Science: Lectures by Sydney Brenner on DNA, Worms and Brains. World Scientific Publishing Co.doi:10.1142/11029.ISBN978-981-3271-73-9.
^McKay, R. (1997)."The Origins of the Central Nervous System". In Gage, F.H.; Christen, Y. (eds.).Isolation, Characterization and Utilization of CNS Stem Cells. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. pp. 169–170.ISBN978-3-642-80308-6.Archived from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved13 August 2019.
^"There's a New Squid in Town".Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University OIST. 11 December 2019.Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved15 February 2020.
^"Loose Ends" : Collection of Loose Ends/False Starts columns by 'Uncle Syd.' from January 1994 to December 2000 (Current Biology, 1997)ISBN1859223257
^'My Life in Science', with Lewis Wolpert, edited by Errol C. Friedberg and Eleanor Lawrence, BioMed Central, 2001;ISBN0-9540278-0-9
Matt Ridley;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,ISBN0-06-082333-X; in paperback, by Atlas Books (with index),ISBN978-0-00-721331-3.
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