Norwegian version of this page

Nobel event at UiO: A new era of medicine with stem cells

Shinya Yamanaka, 2012 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, will visit Oslo on September 6. He will give a lecture about a new era of medicine with induced pluripotent stem cells – iPS cells – and participate in a panel discussion about the ethical aspects of stem cell therapy. The events are open to all.

Illustration of Shinya Yamanaka by Andy Potts.

Nobel Laureate Shinya Yamanaka. Illustration with courtesy of Andy Potts.

By Norunn K. Torheim
Published June 22, 2017 - Last modified Sep. 18, 2017

Shinya Yamanaka from Japan received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012. He shared the prize with Sir John B. Gurdon from Great Britain.

Their work demonstrated that mature, specialised cells, such as skin cells, could be reprogrammed to become immature cells – so called stem cells – which in turn can grow into different types of cells within the body. Their findings have revolutionised the view of the development of cells and organisms.

Mature cells can be reprogrammed and develop into any cell type

In 2006 Yamanaka was the first to demonstrate that mature cells could be reprogrammed directly to so called induced pluripotent stem cells – iPS cells or iPSCs – that is cells that are able to develop into all different kinds of cells. This was a great breakthrough because previous to this, the source of pluripotent stem ce