I sometimes say I am the extinguished professor, because what I'd really like to be is the postdoc, to have that kind of thinking. I think one can get very set in his ways with titles like 'distinguished professor.' Sydney Brenner More Quotes by Sydney Brenner More Quotes From Sydney Brenner Progress in science depends on new techniques, new discoveries and new ideas, probably in that order. Sydney Brenner discovery order science Innovation comes only from an assault on the unknown. Sydney Brenner innovation assault I think one of the things about creativity is not to be afraid of saying the wrong thing. Sydney Brenner saying-the-wrong-thing creativity thinking Have you tried neuroxing papers? It.'s a very easy and cheap process. You hold the page in front of your eyes and you let it go through there into the brain. It's much better than xeroxing. Sydney Brenner let-it-go eye brain As was predicted at the beginning of the Human Genome Project, getting the sequence will be the easy part as only technical issues are involved. The hard part will be finding out what it means, because this poses intellectual problems of how to understand the participation of the genes in the functions of living cells. Sydney Brenner cells science mean It is now widely realized that nearly all the 'classical' problems of molecular biology have either been solved or will be solved in the next decade. The entry of large numbers of American and other biochemists into the field will ensure that all the chemical details of replication and transcription will be elucidated. Because of this, I have long felt that the future of molecular biology lies in the extension of research to other fields of biology, notably development and the nervous system. Sydney Brenner numbers long lying In my second year, after moving to the Medical School, I began the courses of Anatomy and Physiology. I had begun to see that I was interested in cells and their functions. Sydney Brenner second-chance school moving Living most of the time in a world created mostly in one's head, does not make for an easy passage in the real world. Sydney Brenner real doe world So that's when I saw the DNA model for the first time, in the Cavendish, and that's when I saw that this was it. And in a flash you just knew that this was very fundamental. Sydney Brenner saws dna fundamentals Many have gone on to do important scientific work but all remember those wonderful times when we and our science were young and our excitement in meeting new challenges knew no bounds. Sydney Brenner important challenges gone The modern computer hovers between the obsolescent and the nonexistent. Sydney Brenner modern computer technology I set up a laboratory in the Department of Physiology in the Medical School in South Africa and begin to try to find a bacteriophage system which we might use to solve the genetic code. Sydney Brenner might-use trying school I also became interested in chemistry and gradually accumulated enough test tubes and other glassware to do chemical experiments, using small quantities of chemicals purchased from a pharmacy supply house. Sydney Brenner chemistry tests house There was still food rationing in England and life was difficult all through my 2 year stay in Oxford. Sydney Brenner england oxford years In 1995, I founded The Molecular Sciences Institute with a gift from the Philip Morris Company where I hoped that we could create an environment where young people could pursue science in an atmosphere of harmonious purpose and high intellectual challenge. Sydney Brenner atmosphere challenges people I completed the first three years of primary school in one year and was admitted to the local school the age of six directly into the fourth year, some two years younger than all my contemporaries. Sydney Brenner two years school I lived at home and I cycled every morning to the railway station to travel by train to Johannesburg followed by a walk to the University, carrying sandwiches for my lunch and returning in the evening the same way. Sydney Brenner home morning travel During this period, I became interested in how the new techniques of cloning and sequencing DNA could influence the study of genetics and I was an early and active proponent of the Human Genome Sequencing Project. Sydney Brenner human new influence study He told me that Francis Crick and Jim Watson had solved the structure of DNA, so we decided to go across to Cambridge to see it. This was in April of 1953. Sydney Brenner dna go see me I went in with Jack and Leslie, into this room that was lined with brick, and there on the side I can remember very clearly was this small model with plates for the bases - the original model with everything screwed together. Sydney Brenner small i-can together remember
