October 8, 2012

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka




The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka
for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed  to become pluripotent

SUMMARY

The Nobel Prize recognizes two scientists who discovered that mature, specialised cells can be
reprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body. Their
findings have revolutionised our understanding of how cells and organisms develop.

John B. Gurdon discovered in 1962 that the specialisation of cells is reversible. In a classic
experiment, he replaced the immature cell nucleus in an egg cell of a frog with the nucleus from a
mature intestinal cell. This modified egg cell developed into a normal tadpole. The DNA of the
mature cell still had all the information needed to develop all cells in the frog.

Shinya Yamanaka discovered more than 40 years later, in 2006, how intact mature cells in mice
could be reprogrammed to become immature stem cells. Surprisingly, by introducing only a few
genes, he could reprogram mature cells to become pluripotent stem cells, i.e. immature cells that
are able to develop into all types of cells in the body.

These groundbreaking discoveries have completely changed our view of the development and
cellular specialisation.