British, Japanese stem cell researchers win Nobel Prize for Physiology, Medicine

The 2012 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to John B. Gurdon, PhD, and Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, for discovering that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent.

“Their findings have revolutionized our understanding of how cells and organisms develop,” the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm announced in a Monday press release.

In 1962, Gurdon discovered that the specialization of cells is reversible by replacing the immature cell nucleus of a frog egg cell with the nucleus from a mature intestinal cell. The modified egg cell matured into a normal tadpole, demonstrating that the DNA of the mature cell still had all the genetic data needed to develop all the cells of a frog.

Yamanaka discovered in 2006 how intact mature cells in mice could be reprogrammed, becoming immature stem cells. Yamanaka found that by introducing only a few genes, he could reprogram mature cells to become immature cells capable of developing into all types of cells in the body.

“These groundbreaking discoveries have completely changed our view of the development and cellular specialization,” wrote the Nobel Assembly. “By reprogramming human cells, scientists have created new opportunities to study diseases and develop methods for diagnosis and therapy.”

Gurdon, 79, received his PhD from the University of Oxford in 1960. He joined Cambridge University in 1973 and has served as professor of cell biology and master of Magdalene College. He is currently at the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge.

Yamanaka, 50, earned his MD in 1987 at Kobe University and trained as an orthopedic surgeon before switching to basic research. He received his PhD at Osaka City University in 1993. He is currently professor at Kyoto University and also affiliated with the Gladstone Institute.