Kyoto Prize goes to Yamanaka

Stem cell researcher linkurl:Shinya Yamanaka;http://www.gladstone.ucsf.edu/gladstone/site/yamanaka/ will receive linkurl:this year's Kyoto Prize;http://www.inamori-f.or.jp/laureates/k26_a_shinya/prs_e.html in Advanced Technology for his work on generating pluripotent stem cells from adult tissues, the non-profit Inamori Foundation announced today (June 18). Shinya YamanakaImage: The Lasker FoundationIn 2006, Yamanaka, currently a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular

Written byJef Akst

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Shinya Yamanaka
Image: The Lasker Foundation

In 2006, Yamanaka, currently a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease in San Francisco and a professor at Kyoto University, linkurl:presented his work;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/23254/ aimed at inducing pluripotency in somatic cells. Starting from a list of 100 proto-oncogenes and embryonic stem (ES) cell-associated transcripts, he and his colleagues at Kyoto University in Japan eventually whittled the list down to the four now-famed "Yamanaka factors," which, when introduced with retroviruses into mouse fibroblasts, appeared to revert the cells back to an embryonic-like state. The names of the four factors were not revealed, however, until the linkurl:research results were published;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/24307/ in Cell that August. Since then, Yamanaka's team has made numerous advances in the field of iPS cell research, including developing a way to linkurl:identify which cells;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/53272/ have become pluripotent, and inducing pluripotency in epithelial cells from the linkurl:livers and stomachs of adult mice;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54308/ and linkurl:adult human skin cells.;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53873/ His team has also managed to linkurl:eliminate one;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53946/ of the four factors (the c-Myc gene), which induces proliferation, thereby reducing the amount of tumor formation. Yamanaka's 2007 Cell paper was one of the linkurl:most-cited papers;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/56223/ last year, according to ISI. Last year, the No. 1 spot in The Scientist's linkurl:Top 10 Innovations of 2009;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/56171/ went to a group that induced pluripotency in mouse embryonic fibroblast cells using only proteins, including the protein form of Yamanaka's four transcription factors, avoiding genetic modification altogether. Last year, Yamanaka shared the linkurl:Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55978/ for his work in reverting adult cells to an embryonic-like state. Yamanaka will receive 50 million yen (US$555,000) at the Kyoto Prize presentation ceremony in Kyoto, Japan, this November.
**__Related stories:__***linkurl:Epithelial cells made pluripotent;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54308/
[14th February 2008]*linkurl:Two teams reprogram skin cells for pluripotency;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53873/
[20th November 2007]*linkurl:Stem cell reprogramming clues revealed;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/24307/
[11th August 2006]

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Jef Akst

Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.

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