In 1999, Konrad Hochedlinger squeezed into a packed lecture at the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna to hear stem cell researcher Rudolf Jaenisch talk about nuclear transfer cloning techniques. Hochedlinger, a biology masters student, knew little about cloning, but he'd been intrigued by the technique ever since scientists cloned Dolly the sheep in 1996. "I was too shy" to talk to Jaenisch then, he says. But months later Hochedlinger stopped by Jaenisch's office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Whitehead Institute for a chat. He ended up sticking with Jaenisch for six years.
Hochedlinger joined Jaenisch's lab at "a very fruitful and productive time," he says. He worked closely with fellow graduate student Kevin Eggan and postdoc William Rideout. The three published a slew of papers demonstrating how nuclear transfer triggers epigenetic reprogramming. "Konrad was pretty amazing in his diligence," says Rideout, now at AVEO Pharmaceuticals. "He was an ...
