The BBC has reported that two pioneers of stem cell research have shared the Nobel prize for medicine and/ or physiology

John Gurdon from the UK and Shinya Yamanaka from Japan have been jointly awarded the prize for their work in transforming specialised cells into stem cells, which can become any other type of cell in the body. It is hoped the techniques discovered will revolutionise medicine by using a sample of a person’s skin to create stem cells.

Prof Anthony Hollander, the head of cellular and molecular medicine at the University of Bristol, said: “This joint Nobel Prize traces and celebrates the wonderful scientific journey from John Gurdon’s pioneering early work to the sensational discovery of somatic cell reprogramming by Shinya Yamanaka. It’s fantastic news for stem cell research.”

The prize was awarded this morning at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and is the most coveted award in medical science. The Nobel committee said these winners  had “revolutionised” science

 

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