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Professor Seymour Benzer, who has died aged 86, was an American biologist who laid the foundation for modern neuroscience.
He paved the way for scientists to uncover links between genes and human behaviour which improved doctors' ability to treat diseases of the brain and central nervous system, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Benzer's research countered the common belief that human behaviour was shaped primarily by environment, giving genes a far bigger role than they were previously assigned.
In his best-known work, in the late 1960s, Benzer manipulated the gene mutations of fruit flies and changed their behavioural patterns. Many of his colleagues believed Benzer's work should have won him a Nobel Prize, one of the few awards that eluded him.
- Agencies
