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Loose Ends: from Current Biology Hb 1995 ed. Je Groopman, Et
128 pages, Hardcover
First published October 23, 1997
About the author
Sydney Brenner
12 books15 followersSydney Brenner, was is a South African biologist and a 2002 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate, shared with H. Robert Horvitz and John Sulston.
Brenner made significant contributions to work on the genetic code, and other areas of molecular biology while working in the Medical Research Council Unit in Cambridge, England.
He established the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism for the investigation of developmental biology, and founded the Molecular Sciences Institute in Berkeley, California, U.S..
Brenner was born in the small town of Germiston, South Africa. His father, a cobbler, came to South Africa from Lithuania in 1910, and his mother, from Riga, Latvia, in 1922. Educated at Germiston High School and the University of the Witwatersrand, he received an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 which enabled him to complete a D.Phil. from Exeter College, Oxford. He then spent the next 20 years at the Medical Research Council Unit in Cambridge; here, during the 1960s, he contributed to molecular biology, then an emerging field. In 1976 he joined the Salk Institute in California.
He was married to Dr. May Brenner (née Covitz, subsequently Balkind) from December 1952 until her death in January 2010; their children include Belinda, Carla, Stefan, and his stepson Jonathan Balkind from his wife's first marriage. He lives in Ely, Cambridgeshire.
The "American plan" and "European Plan" were proposed by Sydney Brenner as competing models for the way brain cells determine their neural functions.
According to the European plan (sometimes referred to as the British plan), the function of cells is determined by its genetic lineage. Therefore, a mother cell with a specific function (for instance, interpreting visual information) would create daughter cells with similar functions.
According to the American plan, a brain cell's function is determined by the function of its neighbors after cell migration. If a cell migrates to an area in the visual cortex, the cell will adopt the function of its neighboring visual cortex cells, guided by chemical and axonal signals from these cells. If the same cell migrates to the auditory cortex, it would develop functions related to hearing, regardless of its genetic lineage.
Brenner made significant contributions to work on the genetic code, and other areas of molecular biology while working in the Medical Research Council Unit in Cambridge, England.
He established the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism for the investigation of developmental biology, and founded the Molecular Sciences Institute in Berkeley, California, U.S..
Brenner was born in the small town of Germiston, South Africa. His father, a cobbler, came to South Africa from Lithuania in 1910, and his mother, from Riga, Latvia, in 1922. Educated at Germiston High School and the University of the Witwatersrand, he received an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 which enabled him to complete a D.Phil. from Exeter College, Oxford. He then spent the next 20 years at the Medical Research Council Unit in Cambridge; here, during the 1960s, he contributed to molecular biology, then an emerging field. In 1976 he joined the Salk Institute in California.
He was married to Dr. May Brenner (née Covitz, subsequently Balkind) from December 1952 until her death in January 2010; their children include Belinda, Carla, Stefan, and his stepson Jonathan Balkind from his wife's first marriage. He lives in Ely, Cambridgeshire.
The "American plan" and "European Plan" were proposed by Sydney Brenner as competing models for the way brain cells determine their neural functions.
According to the European plan (sometimes referred to as the British plan), the function of cells is determined by its genetic lineage. Therefore, a mother cell with a specific function (for instance, interpreting visual information) would create daughter cells with similar functions.
According to the American plan, a brain cell's function is determined by the function of its neighbors after cell migration. If a cell migrates to an area in the visual cortex, the cell will adopt the function of its neighboring visual cortex cells, guided by chemical and axonal signals from these cells. If the same cell migrates to the auditory cortex, it would develop functions related to hearing, regardless of its genetic lineage.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 5, 2013
As a college freshman, Sydney Brenner's idiosyncratic humor inspired me to become a research scientist. This book is filled with tidbits of his perspective of science and where it's headed. Scientists, as a group, consider it a faux pas to express strong opinion in academic settings. This is exactly why Brenner's insight is so valuable in a casually written work - he's not trying to convince anyone important. Overall, it was just great to hear from a legendary South African biologist who had no pretense and was full of personality.
December 19, 2025
yes I need more Sydney brenner books in my life I think, I was very entertained
May 5, 2020
An eloquent writing style. Probably comes from a more scientific and less literature oriented mind where plain words make us look beyond into what is actually said than how.
Here, one can find practical hands-on advice for every step of building a scientific career. From a postdoc to becoming the director of institute, Brenner charts out detailed obstacles and ways to overcome them.
Here, one can find practical hands-on advice for every step of building a scientific career. From a postdoc to becoming the director of institute, Brenner charts out detailed obstacles and ways to overcome them.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews