GENEVA John B. Gurdon transferred DNA between a tadpole and a frog to cloned the first animal. Shinya Yamanaka used Gurdons concept to turn ordinary skin into potent stem cells. Both won the Nobel Prize for medicine Monday. Gurdon, 79, of Britain, and Yamanaka, 50, of Japan, will share the 8 million-kronor ($1.2 million) prize, the Nobel Assembly said Monday in Stockholm. Their findings have led to remarkable progress in understanding diseases and finding new therapies, the assembly said in a statement. Gurdons work paved the way in 1996 for the cloning of Dolly the sheep and, 10 years later, for Yamanakas research. By adding the right genes to an adult skin cell, Yamanaka developed a technology to create stem cells without destroying human embryos. The discovery was lauded by some politicians and religious figures as a more ethical way to make stem cells because it doesnt destroy human life. John B. Gurdon challenged the dogma that the specialized cell is irreversibly committed to its fate, the assembly said. Shinya Yamanaka discovered more than 40 years later, in 2006, how intact mature cells in mice could be reprogrammed to become immature stem cells. Textbooks have been rewritten, and new research … Continue reading →

Research in reprogrammed cells, which on Monday earned the 2012 Nobel Prize, has been hailed as a new dawn for regenerative medicine but remains troubled by several clouds. Britain's John Gurdon and Japan's Shinya Yamanaka were honoured with the world's paramount award in medicine for induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). They discovered that a mature, adult cell can be turned back to an infant, versatile state called a stem cell. First theorised in the late 19th century, stem cells are touted as a source of replacement tissue, fixing almost anything from malfunctioning hearts and lungs, damaged spines, Parkinson's disease or even baldness. The first human trials were launched only in 2010, and progress has been dogged by the contested use of stem cells taken from early-stage embryos, where the most adaptable, or pluripotent, cells are found. Created by Yamanaka in 2006, iPSCs ease the moral row as they derive from adult cells and not embryos, said University of Oxford ethics professor Julian Savulescu. Ordinary skin cells can be used as the starting material. "Many people objected to the creation of embryos for research, describing it as cannabalizing human beings," he said. George W. Bush "retarded the field for years" by … Continue reading →

Shinya Yamanaka of Japan and John Gurdon of Britain won the Nobel Prize on Monday for work in cell programming, a frontier that has raised dreams of growing replacement tissue for people crippled by disease. The two scientists were lauded for determining that adult cells can be transformed back to an infant, versatile state called stem cells. "Their findings have revolutionised our understanding of how cells and organisms develop," the Nobel jury declared. By reprogramming human cells, "scientists have created new opportunities to study diseases and develop methods for diagnosis and therapy," it added. Stem cells are precursor cells which differentiate into the various organs of the body. They have stirred huge excitement, with hopes that they can be coaxed into growing into replacement tissue for victims of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other diseases. Gurdon's achievement in 1962 was to discover that the DNA code in the nucleus of an adult frog cell held all the information to develop into every kind of cell. This meant that an adult cell could in essence be reprogrammed. His landmark discovery was initially met with scepticism, as the journey from immature to specialised cell was previously deemed irreversible. But his theory became accepted when … Continue reading →

Research in reprogrammed cells, which on Monday earned the 2012 Nobel Prize, has been hailed as a new dawn for regenerative medicine but remains troubled by several clouds. Britain's John Gurdon and Japan's Shinya Yamanaka were honoured with the world's paramount award in medicine for induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). They discovered that a mature, adult cell can be turned back to an infant, versatile state called a stem cell. First theorised in the late 19th century, stem cells are touted as a source of replacement tissue, fixing almost anything from malfunctioning hearts and lungs, damaged spines, Parkinson's disease or even baldness. The first human trials were launched only in 2010, and progress has been dogged by the contested use of stem cells taken from early-stage embryos, where the most adaptable, or pluripotent, cells are found. Created by Yamanaka in 2006, iPSCs ease the moral row as they derive from adult cells and not embryos, said University of Oxford ethics professor Julian Savulescu. Ordinary skin cells can be used as the starting material. "Many people objected to the creation of embryos for research, describing it as cannabalizing human beings," he said. George W. Bush "retarded the field for years" by … Continue reading →

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Shinya Yamanaka of Japan and John Gurdon of Britain won the Nobel Prize on Monday for work in cell programming, a frontier that has nourished dreams of replacement tissue for people crippled by disease. The two scientists found that adult cells can be transformed back to an infant state called stem cells, the key ingredient in the vision of regenerative medicine. "Their findings have revolutionised our understanding of how cells and organisms develop," the Nobel jury declared. "By reprogramming human cells, scientists have created new opportunities to study diseases and develop methods for diagnosis and therapy." Among those who acclaimed the award were Britain's Royal Society, Ian Wilmut, "father" of Dolly the cloned sheep, and a leading ethicist, who said it eased a storm about the use of embryonic cells. Stem cells are precursor cells which differentiate into the various organs of the body. They have stirred huge excitement, with hopes that they can be coaxed into growing into replacement tissue for victims of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other diseases. Gurdon, 79, said he was grateful but also surprised by the honour, since his main research was done a half-century ago. In 1962, he discovered that the DNA … Continue reading →