Sir John Gurdon wins Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology
Baku, October 8 (AZERTAC). A British researcher has won a share of the 2012 Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology, in recognition of his groundbreaking stem cell research.
Sir John Gurdon wins Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology
A British researcher has won a share of the 2012 Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology, in recognition of his groundbreaking stem cell research.
Prof Sir John Gurdon, one of the early pioneers of cloning, and his Japanese colleague Shinya Yamanaka were awarded the prize on Monday for their discovery that adult cells can be "reprogrammed" into immature stem cells.
The process gives the cells the ability to turn into any tissue type in the body, meaning they can be used to study the effects of diseases in the lab, and can form the basis of new therapies by replacing diseased cells.
The Nobel Assembly said in a statement: "These groundbreaking discoveries have completely changed our view of the development and specialisation of cells."
Sir John told Swedish Radio he was surprised by the honour, since his award-winning research was done more than 40 years ago.
Sir John was educated at Eton College, and applied to Christ Church, Oxford to study classics because his school teachers told him the idea of him becoming a scientist was "quite ridiculous".
But after being accepted he switched to study zoology, and went on to produce a thesis involving experiments on tadpoles which gave birth to the field of cloning.
After writing his thesis he moved to the California Institute of Technology for a postdoctoral position, but soon returned to England where he took up posts at Oxford and then Cambridge.
During the 1960s and 70s he continued his earlier work by performing a series of experiments on frogs which answered a key question in cell biology.
By taking the nucleus from adult frog cells and transferring it into eggs with their nucleus removed, Sir John showed he could create cloned adult frogs, demonstrating that genes do not change during the ageing process.
The medicine award was the first Nobel Prize to be announced this year. The physics award will be announced Tuesday, followed by chemistry on Wednesday, literature on Thursday and the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
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