The stem cell community is buzzing today with excitement about the Nobel Prizes deservedly awarded to Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon for their pioneering work on cellular reprogramming.
However, it is also just as worked up about the strange omission in this award of what could have been a third scientist awarded the prize for the same kind of work.
Why did the Nobel Committee only give 2 scientists this award when it could have been given to three scientists? Are there really no additional scientists out there working in the same area who were deserving?
I’ve compiled a list of most likely scientists, based on reader feedback today, who should have filled that third slot and put them into a poll above. Please vote who you think should have shared the Nobel Prize with Yamanaka and Gurdon.
Not sure about Ian Wilmut as he basically translated to mammals the nuclear transfert techniques & principles from Gurdon’s work in Frogs….I’m more concerned that Till & McCulloch will probably never been recognized by the Nobel committee for their discovery of adult Stem cells along with earliest work from Florence Sabin.
Hi Amy,
Interesting suggestion. How does Irv’s work fit into things relative to the early work of Till & McCulloch on adult stem cells? There seems to be some debate about who did the first adult stem cell work. My research suggests researchers much earlier when all these guys were in diapers or earlier were working with adult stem cells. https://www.ipscell.com/2012/04/who-really-discovered-stem-cells-the-history-you-need-to-know/ One of my favorites is the great Florence Sabin!
Paul, what about Irv Weissman, who isolated the first adult stem cell.