Tidings of stem Yesterday’s announcement that John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka would share the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is the latest evidence that stem cell science has come a long, long way – though not yet where scientists, doctors and ordinary people hope it will someday be. Gurdon and Yamanaka were honored for a pair of landmark discoveries made almost half a century later. In 1962, Gurdon was the first to clone an animal. Taking an intestinal cell from an adult frog, Gurdon extracted its nucleus and inserted it into a frog egg whose nucleus had been removed. The frog successfully developed into a tadpole, upending dogma at the time that said adult cells were irrevocably assigned specific functions. Gurdon’s experiment showed that adult genes could be reprogrammed. (FYI: Gurdon conducted his experiment using the African clawed frog (Xenopus), a laboratory stand-by. The image above depicts ready-to-hatch red-eyed tree frog  tadpoles, not typically used in research, but infinitely cuter.) In 2006, Yamanaka followed up with an even-more astounding experiment. Using mice, he induced adult skin cells to revert back to stem cells, a state in which they are capable of developing into any kind of cell. So-called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are the workhorses of much stem cell science today. Researchers use them in hopes of one day being able to grow replacement neurons for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s or new tissues for damaged organs, such as the liver or heart. Most recently, Japanese researchers showed the utility of stem cells in future fertility treatments, growing both egg and sperm cells from iPSCs, then combining them to produce healthy offspring.
Pop-upView Separately

Tidings of stem

Yesterday’s announcement that John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka would share the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is the latest evidence that stem cell science has come a long, long way – though not yet where scientists, doctors and ordinary people hope it will someday be.

Gurdon and Yamanaka were honored for a pair of landmark discoveries made almost half a century later.

In 1962, Gurdon was the first to clone an animal. Taking an intestinal cell from an adult frog, Gurdon extracted its nucleus and inserted it into a frog egg whose nucleus had been removed. The frog successfully developed into a tadpole, upending dogma at the time that said adult cells were irrevocably assigned specific functions. Gurdon’s experiment showed that adult genes could be reprogrammed. (FYI: Gurdon conducted his experiment using the African clawed frog (Xenopus), a laboratory stand-by. The image above depicts ready-to-hatch red-eyed tree frog  tadpoles, not typically used in research, but infinitely cuter.)

In 2006, Yamanaka followed up with an even-more astounding experiment. Using mice, he induced adult skin cells to revert back to stem cells, a state in which they are capable of developing into any kind of cell.

So-called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are the workhorses of much stem cell science today. Researchers use them in hopes of one day being able to grow replacement neurons for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s or new tissues for damaged organs, such as the liver or heart.

Most recently, Japanese researchers showed the utility of stem cells in future fertility treatments, growing both egg and sperm cells from iPSCs, then combining them to produce healthy offspring.

324 Notes/ Hide

  1. roachaundre reblogged this from ohyeahdevelopmentalbiology
  2. girgoles reblogged this from ohyeahdevelopmentalbiology
  3. truthjusticeandrevenge reblogged this from ohyeahdevelopmentalbiology
  4. brainstufffyi4dew0319 reblogged this from scientificthought
  5. dispatchesfromdenver reblogged this from ohyeahdevelopmentalbiology
  6. rainbow-hammock reblogged this from ohyeahdevelopmentalbiology
  7. shhh-listen-live reblogged this from ucsdhealthsciences and added:
    CUTE LIL SPAWNSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! :[]
  8. taylorstrawberrymilk reblogged this from m5-4ever
  9. beatrizxdbsm reblogged this from sophiakepler
  10. sophiakepler reblogged this from ohyeahdevelopmentalbiology
  11. excessivetalk reblogged this from virtues-vices
  12. virtues-vices reblogged this from thescienceblog
  13. feelingthenorthernlights reblogged this from ohyeahdevelopmentalbiology
  14. ac-ch-ooo reblogged this from ohyeahdevelopmentalbiology and added:
    aw they’re so cute ;)
  15. rude-notginger reblogged this from catherinebythackeray
  16. professionallyknownasthewoman reblogged this from ohyeahdevelopmentalbiology
  17. pistachito reblogged this from ohyeahdevelopmentalbiology
  18. emmy-lou-who reblogged this from rumblyinmatumb-lokid
  19. rumblyinmatumb-lokid reblogged this from iwalkliketommypickles
  20. iwalkliketommypickles reblogged this from imagineatoms
  21. ebihebi reblogged this from ruminantruminations
  22. ruminantruminations reblogged this from ajora
  23. polymethodic reblogged this from ajora
  24. ajora reblogged this from kalli-krein
  25. lighttothelight reblogged this from ohyeahdevelopmentalbiology
  26. aceitunos reblogged this from ohyeahdevelopmentalbiology and added:
    peque!
  27. akira1128 reblogged this from solah-hibino
  28. solah-hibino reblogged this from ucsdhealthsciences