Sydney Brenner is one of the past century’s leading pioneers in genetics and molecular biology. Among his many notable discoveries, Brenner established the existence of messenger RNA and demonstrated how the order of amino acids in proteins is determined. He also conducted pioneering work with the roundworm, a model organism now widely used to study genetics.

Brenner received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2002,and the Albert Lasker Medical Research Award in 1971. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society; and a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences. He received his undergraduate education at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Oxford University.