In 1962, when it wasn?t known that all the cells in a body have the same genes, when biologists believed that the genetic path of cells was irreversible once it was set in the embryonic state, UK scientist John B Gurdon?s research proved that the nucleus of a mature, specialised cell could be returned to an immature, pluripotent state. Genes could be reprogrammed, cell development reversed. By 1996, based on the principle that all the cells in a body contained the same genetic code, and that individual cells could create an entire animal, Scottish researcher Ian Wilmut cloned Dolly the sheep. Upon receiving this year?s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Gurdon admitted, ?It would have been very nice if Sir Ian had been able to share this.? The Japanese scientist with whom he has gotten to share the Nobel instead was born in 1962?you could call this the work of fate, except the whole discipline seems a Promethean endeavour to challenge fate. Shinya Yamanaka?s 2006 research discovery that intact, mature cells could be reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells drew gasps akin to those drawn in 1962. While there was virtually no expectation of therapeutic benefits back in 1962 and while the disappointment of such expectations more properly describes our times, the Nobel committee notes that by reprogramming human cells, Gurdon and Yamanaka have created new opportunities to study diseases and develop methods for diagnosis and therapy.
While this work is very much in an experimental stage, no one can dispute the promise of regenerative medicine that these experiments champion. AIIMS doctors have conducted a stem cell transplant on a multiple sclerosis patient, and have every reason to believe that this transplant is a success. Elsewhere, similar experiments are addressing blindness, Alzheimer?s, spinal injuries, etc. And between them, Gurdon and Yamanaka have circumvented a major ethical quandary by eliminating the need for embryonic cells, as an unlimited supply of stem cells can now be generated from adult tissues.