Nobel prize winner Prof Sydney Brenner to visit UP campus

Prof Brenner will deliver the keynote address at the Leading Minds 1908 – 2008 Gala Dinner on 26 March 2008 - one of the highlights on the University’s centenary calendar at which University of Pretoria researchers will be honoured for their contribution over the past 100 hundred years.

Prof Brenner will speak on “Creating and Using Knowledge in the 21^st Century”.

Prof Robin Crewe, Vice-Principal: Research and Postgraduate Studies at the University of Pretoria, says "Brenner's unique contribution to new knowledge in biology coupled with his translation of this into tangible benefits for society, provides a model for a scientific career that serves as a guide to young scientists. He exemplifies the excellence in research achievement to which the University aspires.”

While visiting the University, Prof Brenner will also deliver a seminar at the Innovation Hub on the morning of 26 March on “Adventures in Biotechnology: Lessons for the Future”. He will officially open a street that is named after him and on 27 March, Dr Brenner will talk about “The Next 100 Years of Genetics” when he delivers the keynote address at the SA Genetics Society Congress.

Regarded as one of the past century’s leading pioneers in genetics and molecular biology, Brenner was the joint winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2002 for discoveries concerning the genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death.

Amongst 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 used to study genetics. His research with C. elegans garnered insights into ageing, nerve cell function and controlled cell death.

Sydney Brenner was born on 13 January 1927 in Germiston. He matriculated at 15 and obtained the degree MB BCh from the University of the Witwatersrand.

For more information regarding Prof Brenner’s programme, please contact:

René Bosman

Coordinator: Marketing and Communication

Research Support

University of Pretoria

Tel: (012) 420-4644