[
Nat Genet,
2003]
In the year that the Nobel Prize was awarded to Sydney Brenner, Bob Horvitz and Sir John Suslton, the 14th International C. elegans meeting was bound to be a celebration as well as a scientific meeting and social get-together. The celebratory mood reached its high point during the keynote address by Sydney Brenner, the 'Father of the Worm'. The address was classic Brenner, at once provocative and Delphic, with incisive analogies, witty anecdotes and sweeping dismissals (systems biology did not fare well), all delivered with his usual flair.