Conversations in genetics. Vol. 2, No. 1: Talking with Seymour Benzer.

Recorded on November 9, 2001, in the Kerckhoff Library at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA., David Anderson, Roger W. Sperry Professor of Biology and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA., talks to Seymour Benzer, James G. Boswell Professor of Neuroscience, Emeritus (Active), California Institute of Technology. Benzer's experiments in genetics have had extraordinarily far-reaching consequences in modern biology. His groudbreaking studies on fine structure mapping of the T4 rII locus defined the concept of the gene for the first tim in terms that could be related to DNA, and led the way to understanding the genetic code, gene organisation and regulation. His prescient work on behavioural genetics in flies opened the new field of neurogenetics. The discovery of genes governing circadian rhythms, chemo- and phototaxis, courtship, and learning and memory demonstrated the feasibility of direct systematic investigation of the genetic control of behaviour by mutational analysis. Benzer is an icon in genetics. Rarely has a scientific investigator made contributions that have impacted diverse areas so dramatically. He has received numerous awards for his work including the Lasker Award, the Wolf Prize, the Bower Award, and the Crafoord Prize.