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SYDNEY BRENNER 1927 – Molecular Biology, Model Organisms, and C. elegans

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Sydney brenner. 1927 – Molecular Biology, Model Organisms, and C. elegans. Born on January 13, 1927 From Germiston, South Africa Attended the University of the Witwatersrand to study medicine at the age of fifteen Failed a class in medicine and had to retake it and surgery for his degree - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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SYDNEY BRENNER1927 –

Molecular Biology, Model Organisms, and C. elegans

THE EARLY YEARS

Born on January 13, 1927

From Germiston, South Africa

Attended the University of the Witwatersrand to study medicine at the age of fifteen

Failed a class in medicine and had to retake it and surgery for his degree

He then went to Oxford University for a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry

Explored into molecular biology at its birth – visited Cambridge to see the Watson and Crick model of DNA

COLLEGE AND BEGINNING RESEARCH

Worked with bacteriophage and did some research with viruses in Berkeley during a trip to America

Stayed in contact with Watson and Crick, from which many of their conversations resulted in exciting ideas

Received a Doctorate of Philosophy from Exeter College

Worked for 25 years at the Medical Research Council Unit in Cambridge

MODEL ORGANISMS

A model organism is an organism that is used to study a specific trait, disease, or phenomenon, usually having a short generation time, having similarities to humans, and are easily accessible for laboratory studies

Brenner had a goal to study the nervous system and searched for an organism that met the previously mentioned requirements

He came across Caenorhabditis elegans and began his research on it because of its simple and short life and reproductive cycles, its transparency, and its availability

Caenorhabditis elegans is a soil nematode common around the world

http://testweb.science.uu.nl/developmentalbiology/elegans_mike.html

C. elegans It is cultivated in large numbers (10,000 worms/petri

dish) Has six pairs of chromosomes (1 pair of sex

chromosomes) Two sexes: hermaphrodites and males Hermaphrodites can produce 300+ offspring self-

fertilizing and more when fertilizing with males These properties allow for easy production of

numerous genotypes and/or phenotypes in genetic research through the different types and large amounts of reproduction

Constantly contains 959 cells These cells’ positions are constant and each one was

mapped Makes it easy to track traits and mutations within a

specific cell

Its genome is about 100,000,000 base pairs Completely sequenced in 1998 (first multicellular

organism with a completely sequenced genome)http://www.easternct.edu/~adams/ModelOrganismHomePage.html

C. elegans Significance

Introduced a need for a new branch of biological research

Demonstrated why developmental biology and molecular biology are important

Helps one understand diseases and find differentiation

It created a better genetic understanding of humans As a multicellular organism, its processes were much more like a human’s than

of the bacteria previously studied

The C. elegans genome matches 40% of the human genome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caenorhabditis_elegans

APOPTOSIS

Programmed cell death

Brenner noticed that the number of cells remained at 959 although it gained 131 more cells during adulthood

Identified genes in C. elegans that controlled it These genes are also in humans and carry out the same task

Apoptosis was just starting to be discovered at this point in the 70s

NOBEL PRIZE

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2002

It was jointly awarded and he shared it with H. Robert Horvitz and Sir John Sulston

Awarded for discoveries in genetic regulation of organ development and PCD

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2002/brenner-photo.html

CAREER ACCOLADES

Fellow of the Royal Society (1965)

Albert Lasker Medical Research Award (1971)

Kyoto Prize (1990)

Gairdner Foundation International Award (1991)

Albert Lasker Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science (2000)

Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (2002)

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2002/brenner-photo.html

INTERESTING FACTS

He is currently a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, CA

In a recent interview, he stated that “the thing is to have no discipline at all. Biology got its main success by the importation of physicists that came into the field not knowing any biology and I think today that’s very important”

Developed a genome project for Fugu rubripes, the Japanese puffer fish, after C. elegans

Established the Molecular Science Institution in Berkeley, CA to process information gathered from various new genome sequencing projects

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/103823

SOURCES

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2002/brenner-bio.html

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/891288/Sydney-Brenner

http://wormclassroom.org/short-history-c-elegans-research

http://hobertlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Ankeny_2001.pdf

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/A/Apoptosis.html

http://kingsreview.co.uk/magazine/blog/2014/02/24/how-academia-and-publishing-are-destroying-scientific-innovation-a-conversation-with-sydney-brenner/

http://www.dnalc.org/view/16491-Biography-21-Sydney-Brenner-1927-.html

http://www.salk.edu/faculty/brenner.html