In an extraordinarily varied career, one that embraced several scientific disciplines, Seymour Benzer contributed greatly to the understanding of the structure and function of genes. Benzer's early work revealed that while a single gene had clear beginning and end points, it could also be split into many smaller parts. These parts were capable of recombining and creating a new, mutated gene. Later in his career, Benzer worked with fruit fly mutations to study how genes influenced the development of the nervous system and how this influence, in turn, produced behavior. His pioneering experiments created a new area of research, known as molecular neurogenetics. This field, which unites genetics, neuroscience, and molecular biology, offers a new approach for the study of human genetic diseases.

Seymour Benzer was born in 1921, in New York City, the third of four children, and only son. In 1942, Benzer received his BA in physics from...