British and Japanese Scientists Awarded the Nobel Prize for Work on Stem Cells

As students applying for medicine and Oxbridge courses prepare for the 15 October UCAS deadline, they should draw inspiration from a former schoolboy whose ambition to become a scientist was dismissed as “quite ridiculous” by his science teacher, but who went on to produce groundbreaking medical research and eventually win a Nobel Prize this year.

Professor John Gurdon of Cambridge University started experimenting on frog cells in 1958. Over 50 years later, his efforts were finally rewarded when he, together with Professor Shinya Yamanaka, a scientist holding posts at the Universities of Kyoto and San Francisco, were co-awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine or physiology. The announcement was made Monday morning, 8 October by The Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences.

Their work revolves around the discovery that adult cells can be reprogrammed into becoming stem cells that are pluripotent, or not fixed developmentally and thus have the capability to transform into any other type of cell in the human body. Previous research on stem cells became controversial because it needed the use of embryonic stem cells harvested from human embryos that had to be destroyed in the process.

Gurdon and Yamanaka’s work has led the way for other scientists to understand how cells and organisms develop. This will allow for radical advances in medicine that will make it possible for damaged or diseased tissues to be regenerated. The research has potential, particularly in regenerative medicine, to create therapies for serious conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, heart attack and diabetes.

Gurdon said of his award: “I hope it encourages others around to feel that science is a good thing to do. There’s a danger of some of the best people saying ‘I don’t want a career in science’ “.

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