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Biography
Dr Brenner is currently a Distinguished Professor of the Salk Institute for
Biological Studies in La Jolla, USA. Dr Brenner received degrees in
Medicine and Science from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa and
a D. Phil. in Chemistry from Oxford University, England in 1954. The
founding father of molecular genetics, Dr Brenner is known for his
substantial contributions to the field, including the identification of
mRNA (with Francois Jacob and Matthew Meselson), the demonstration that the
genetic code consists of triplets (with Francis Crick), and the development
of the nematode C. elegans as a model research organism.
Dr Brenner was a member of the Medical Research Council Laboratory of
Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England from 1956 to 1986 and served as its
Director from 1977 to 1986. He was Director of the MRC Unit of Molecular
Genetics from 1986 to 1992, and was appointed Professor of Genetic Medicine
in the University of Cambridge in 1988. He was a visiting Scientist at the
Scripps Research Institute from 1990 to 1995 and was the founder and
Director of the Molecular Sciences Institute in Berkeley, California from
1996 to 2001.
Dr Brenner has received many awards and honours and is a member of several
national academies of science. These include the Companion of Honour, two
Albert Lasker awards, one for his work in molecular genetics in 1971 and
the Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science in 2000, and the Kyoto
Prize in 1990. Most recently, Dr Brenner, H. Robert Horvitz and John E.
Sulston were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2002
for their discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development
and programmed cell death.
In Singapore, Dr Brenner was a founding member of the Institute of
Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) Scientific Board and Chairman of the
Scientific Advisory Board from 1987 to 1997. In 2000, he received the
National Day Award (Public Service Star) for putting Singapore on the world
map of biomedical research capability.
In 2003, Dr Brenner was named an Honorary Citizen of Singapore for his
invaluable contributions to the development of Singapore as an
international biomedical research hub. In 2004, he was awarded the
Scientist of the Year by the ARCS Foundation, Inc., San Diego, CA
Contact:
sbrenner@salk.edu
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