My life with Sydney, 1961–1971

Abstract

During the 1961–1971 decade, Sydney Brenner made several significant contributions to molecular biology—showing that the genetic code is a triplet code; discovery of messenger RNA; colinearity of gene and protein; decoding of chain terminating codons; and then an important transition: the development of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans into the model eucaryote genetic system that has permeated the whole of recent biology.

Keywords:

• Genetic code
• mRNA
• triplet code
• colinearity
• nonsense codons
• nematode
• nematode nervous system
• Caenorhabditis elegans
• Ascaris suum

Acknowledgement

I am very grateful to Philippa Claude for her insightful critique.