01 April 2008

By Ndaba Dlamini

SOUTH African-born biologist and Nobel Prize winner Professor Sydney Brenner has left his mark in the home of humankind – Maropeng, Mogale City.

At a short ceremony at the Cradle of Humankind on 27 March, the 81-year-old scientist placed his foot in concrete, leaving a permanent memory alongside the footprints of other famous visitors, including President Thabo Mbeki and for UN secretary general Kofi Annan.

Brenner won the Nobel Prize in 2002 in the category Physiology or Medicine. He is recognised for his pioneering work in the field of molecular biology and genetics.

Enjoying the occasion with invited guests, Brenner toured Maropeng – so called as the word means ‘the place where we once lived’ in Setswana – with Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa, the vice chancellor of the University of Pretoria Professor Calie Pistorious, and Professor Loyiso Nongxa, the vice chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand.

The Cradle of Humankind is a World Heritage site. It is here that some three million years of human activity has been recorded in the earth, with forty percent of all human ancestor fossils being discovered here. The palaeontological records show man's earliest-known mastery of fire.

The site is also home to the world-renowned Sterkfontein Caves, where exists the oldest and most continuous palaentological dig in the world. It is also the site of discovery of the most famous pre-human skull affectionately known as Mrs Ples, and an almost complete hominid skeleton called Little Foot, dated 2,3-and 4,17-million years old respectively.

Brenner said it was apt his trip to South Africa included a tour of the Heritage Site, one of the world’s most significant scientific research sites and one of the richest sources of hominid fossils on earth. “I am glad that my ‘homofoot’ will have a place here for all to see,” Brenner said.

Visitors centre
HE had high praise for the centre, where visitors experience the wonders of a man-made lake, the first exhibit demonstrating the elements that make up the world: water; earth; air; and fire. A boat ride takes visitors through a tunnel, where they can experience volcanoes, fire, rumbles and steam as they learn more about how the Earth came into being about four billion years ago. “This is one of rare experiences that I have had in my life,” said Brenner. “I can only compare Maropeng to one such tourist place that I visited in Germany.” Despite his personal achievements, Brenner believes “that a scientist should be judged by the quality of the people he has helped to produce and not by prizes or other honours bestowed on him”.

“Let my works speak for themselves. I am still excited by scientific research and the prospect of what can be done in biology. Science is something one is tied to for life and one should never retire from anything until one has secured one’s next job. The endless quest for knowledge will continue as long as humans exist.” In his biography, Brenner says his parents would have preferred him to become a surgeon or a physician, but were most understanding of his ambitions.

“Living most of the time in a world created mostly in one’s head does not make an easy passage in the real world. Throughout my scientific life and in all my projects I have been joined by many scientists, young and old, whose work was absolutely essential for the success of our scientific endeavours.”

Brenner, whom Shilowa described as an “extraordinary person” now lives with his family in California, where he heads the Salk Institute in La Jolla as a distinguished professor.

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