Japanese and British scientists receive 2012 Nobel Prize

Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka on December 10 received this year's Nobel Prize in medicine together with British scientist John Gurdon at the award ceremony in Sweden for discovering that mature cells can be reprogrammed into immature cells capable of transforming into any type of tissue in the body.

“I have no words to express my feelings,” Yamanaka said after the award ceremony, in which he and Gurdon received medals and certificates from Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and other Nobel laureates. “I feel so honored.”

The two scientists who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine are Mr. John Gurdon, British (left) and Mr. Shinya Yamanaka, Japanese (right). (Source: AFP)

Yamanaka's wife, Chika, 50, and his mother, Minako, 81, along with other family members were present in the Stockholm Theater auditorium.

Yamanaka, a 50-year-old professor at Kyoto University, is the youngest Nobel laureate this year, receiving the award just six years after developing induced pluripotent stem cells, which he calls iPS cells.

Yamanaka is the first Japanese person to receive the prize in the field of Biology or Medicine in 25 years since Susumu Tonegawa, 73, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, won the award in 1987 for his discovery of the genetic principles for the production of antibody diversity.

“If I were to use a marathon metaphor, today’s ceremony is only half the race for me,” Yamanaka said. “Like the marathon, the rest of the race will be even more difficult. So I will continue to do my best.”

In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda gave a congratulatory speech to Yamanaka, the 19th Japanese to receive the Nobel Prize, saying that Yamanaka's passion for iPS research has moved many people and gone beyond the boundaries of scientific knowledge.

Prime Minister Noda affirmed that to support researchers after Yamanaka's successes, the Japanese Government is committed to improving the research environment as well as regulations on iPS stem cells./.

According to (Vietnam+) - VT