Dr. Sydney Brenner, who previously advised the director of NASA Ames Research Center in the early stages of developing the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI), has been awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Brenner shares the award with H. Robert Horvitz and John E. Sulston. Their work on C. elegans, a small (1 mm) worm, proved it to be a novel experimental model organism. “The Laureates have identified key genes regulating organ development and programmed cell death and have shown that corresponding genes exist in higher species, including man. The discoveries are important for medical research and have shed new light on the pathogenesis of many diseases,” said the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet.
Brenner has served as a member of the distinguished NAI Director’s Science Council from the time of its establishment by Director Baruch Blumberg.
For more information: Kathleen Burton, 650/604-1731 or by e-mail at: kburton@mail.arc.nasa.gov
