Shinya Yamanaka facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Shinya Yamanaka
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Yamanaka in 2014
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| Born | September 4, 1962 Higashiōsaka, Osaka, Japan
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| Nationality | Japanese |
| Alma mater | Kobe University (MD) Osaka City University (PhD) |
| Known for | Induced pluripotent stem cell |
| Awards | Meyenburg Prize (2007) Massry Prize (2008) Robert Koch Prize (2008) Shaw Prize (2008) Gairdner Foundation International Award (2009) Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award (2009) Balzan Prize (2010) Kyoto Prize (2010) BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2010) Wolf Prize (2011) McEwen Award for Innovation (2011) Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (2012) Millennium Technology Prize (2012) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2012) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Stem cell research |
| Institutions | Kyoto University Nara Institute of Science and Technology Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular disease University of California, San Francisco |
Shinya Yamanaka (山中 伸弥, Yamanaka Shin'ya, born September 4, 1962) is a Japanese scientist who studies stem cells. He won a Nobel Prize for his amazing discoveries. He works as a professor at Kyoto University in Japan. He is also a senior researcher at the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, California.
In 2012, he and John Gurdon won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. They discovered that adult cells can be changed back into stem cells. This was a huge step forward in science! In 2013, he also received the $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for his important work.
Contents
Shinya Yamanaka's Early Life and School
Shinya Yamanaka was born in Higashiōsaka, Japan, in 1962. He went to Kobe University and became a doctor in 1987. Later, he earned his Ph.D. (a high-level science degree) from Osaka City University in 1993.
After his studies, he worked as a resident in orthopedic surgery. This means he was training to be a bone and joint surgeon. He also did research at the J. David Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, USA. Later, he worked at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan. Today, he is a professor at Kyoto University.
His Journey in Science
From 1987 to 1989, Yamanaka was a resident doctor. He found surgery very difficult at first. Some older doctors even called him "Jamanaka," which means "obstacle" in Japanese, because he was slow.
From 1993 to 1996, he worked at the Gladstone Institutes. Then, he became an assistant professor at Osaka City University Medical School. He felt like he spent most of his time taking care of mice, not doing much research.
His wife suggested he become a regular doctor. But instead, he decided to apply for a job at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology. He told them he could understand embryonic stem cells better. This positive attitude helped him get the job. From 1999 to 2003, he started the research that would later win him the Nobel Prize.
In 2006, he and his team made a big breakthrough. They created induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) from adult mouse skin cells. These iPS cells are very similar to embryonic stem cells. They can turn into any type of cell in the body. Later, his team was the first to make iPS cells from human adult skin cells.
They found that just four special factors (called transcription factors) could change adult cells into iPS cells. These factors are Sox2, Oct4, Klf4, and c-Myc.
Understanding Stem Cells and Yamanaka's Discovery
The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was given to Shinya Yamanaka and Sir John B. Gurdon. They won for finding that adult cells can be "reprogrammed" to become pluripotent stem cells.
Different Types of Cells
To understand this, let's look at different cell types:
- Totipotent cells: These cells can create all other cell types. A fertilized egg is an example.
- Pluripotent cells: These can develop into almost any cell type in the body. Early embryo cells are pluripotent.
- Multipotent cells: These can develop into a group of related cell types. For example, blood stem cells can become different types of blood cells.
What Yamanaka Discovered
For a long time, scientists thought that once a cell became specialized (like a skin cell or a muscle cell), it couldn't go back to being an unspecialized stem cell. They believed cells could only change in one direction.
But in 1962, John Gurdon showed that the nucleus (the control center) from a frog's specialized gut cell could be put into an egg cell. This created a full tadpole! This showed that specialized cells still held the instructions to become any cell type.
Yamanaka took this idea further. He proved that by adding a small group of special factors (transcription factors) to a specialized cell, he could turn it back into a pluripotent stem cell. He focused on factors that keep embryonic stem cells in their unspecialized state.
He started with 24 possible factors. After many tests, he found that just four factors were enough to change adult skin cells into iPS cells. These iPS cells could then create different types of cells, just like embryonic stem cells.
Challenges and Future Hopes
Making iPS cells is still a bit tricky, and the process doesn't always work perfectly. Also, some of the factors used can sometimes cause problems like tumors.
Despite these challenges, Yamanaka's discovery has opened up a whole new world for science.
- Scientists are finding better ways to make iPS cells without using harmful methods.
- They are learning which factors work best for different cell types.
- iPS cells could be used for cell replacement therapy. This means replacing damaged or lost cells in diseases like Parkinson's or heart disease.
- They can also help scientists study diseases. By making iPS cells from patients with genetic problems, researchers can understand how these diseases work.
- iPS cells can be used to test new medicines. This helps find safe and effective treatments.
In 2014, scientists in Japan even used iPS cells to grow a working human liver in mice! This shows the amazing potential of Yamanaka's research.
Awards and Recognition
Shinya Yamanaka has received many important awards for his groundbreaking work.
- In 2007, Time magazine called him a "Person Who Mattered."
- In 2010, he won the Kyoto Prize for his work on reprogramming adult skin cells.
- In 2012, he shared the Millennium Technology Prize with Linus Torvalds, who created the Linux computer system.
- The same year, he and John Gurdon won the ultimate science award: the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Here are some of the other awards he has received:
- 2007 – Osaka Science Prize
- 2007 – Inoue Prize for Science
- 2007 – Asahi Prize
- 2007 – Meyenburg Cancer Research Award
- 2008 – Yamazaki-Teiichi Prize in Biological Science & Technology
- 2008 – Robert Koch Prize
- 2008 – Medals of Honor (Japan) (with purple ribbon)
- 2008 – Shaw Prize in Life Science & Medicine
- 2008 – Sankyo Takamine Memorial Award
- 2008 – Massry Prize from the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
- 2008 - Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
- 2009 – Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research
- 2009 – Gairdner Foundation International Award
- 2009 – Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
- 2010 – Balzan Prize for Stem Cells: Biology and potential applications
- 2010 – March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology
- 2010 – Kyoto Prize in Biotechnology and medical technology
- 2010 – Person of Cultural Merit
- 2010 – BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Biomedicine Category
- 2011 – Albany Medical Center Prize in biomedicine
- 2011 – Wolf Prize in Medicine
- 2011 – King Faisal International Prize for Medicine
- 2011 – McEwen Award for Innovation
- 2012 – Millennium Technology Prize
- 2012 – Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences
- 2012 – Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 2012 – Order of Culture
- 2013 – Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
- 2013 – Member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
- 2014 – UCSF 150th Anniversary Alumni Excellence Awards
- 2016 – Honorable Emeritus Professor, Hiroshima University
Shinya Yamanaka's Love for Sports
Yamanaka enjoys sports! When he was a university student, he practiced judo and played rugby. He is also a marathon runner. After not running for 20 years, he ran the first Osaka Marathon in 2011. He also runs in the Kyoto Marathon to help raise money for iPS cell research. His fastest marathon time is 3 hours, 25 minutes, and 20 seconds.
See also
In Spanish: Shin'ya Yamanaka para niños
- Catherine Verfaillie
- List of Japanese Nobel laureates
- List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Kyoto University
- Tasuku Honjo
