Sydney Brenner is a geneticist and molecular biologist who has worked in the laboratories of Cambridge University since 1957. Brenner played an integral part in the discovery and understanding of the triplet genetic code of DNA. He was also a member of the first scientific team to introduce messenger RNA, helping to explain the mechanism by which genetic information is transferred from DNA to the production of proteins and enzymes. In later years, Brenner conducted a massive, award-winning research project, diagramming the nervous system of a particular species of worm and attempting to map its entire genome.

Brenner was born in Germiston, South Africa. His parents were neither British nor South African--Morris Brenner was a Lithuanian exile who worked as a cobbler, and Lena Blacher Brenner was a Russian immigrant. Sydney Brenner grew up in his native town, attending Germiston High School. At the age of fifteen, he won...