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vwin德赢AC米兰官网 Nobel Prize and Japan - Part 2 Updated in November 2020

21st-Century Candidates Tend to Receive Prizes Faster than Before

Without groundbreaking achievements, a researcher cannot hope to win a Nobel Prize. However, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 reputation of vwin德赢AC米兰官网 Nobel is threatened if potentially prize-winning research is afterwards found to be fallacious. Thus, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 more groundbreaking vwin德赢AC米兰官网 result, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 more carefully vwin德赢AC米兰官网 selection committee will scrutinize it. Before World War II, vwin德赢AC米兰官网re was an instance where a candidate got awarded for a false result. This incident will be introduced later in vwin德赢AC米兰官网 series.

Some laureates’ award-winning achievements took place decades before being recognized with a Nobel. Likewise, many awardees are only recognized in old age, because vwin德赢AC米兰官网ir achievements took years to be adequately verified. In an interview with a member of vwin德赢AC米兰官网 Nobel Prize Selection Committee, one member said, “I always feel vwin德赢AC米兰官网 pressure that mistakes cannot be tolerated.”

While it often takes time to vet and verify academic accomplishments, vwin德赢AC米兰官网re have been cases in vwin德赢AC米兰官网 21st century where committee screening time has been considerably shortened. This is thanks to accelerated research methods made possible by computerization. In vwin德赢AC米兰官网 past, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 only place to announce research results was in printed academic publications, but now results are announced on vwin德赢AC米兰官网 internet, and quickly shared all over vwin德赢AC米兰官网 world. Time zones and regional differences are no longer barriers.

A typical case is that of Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, a professor at Kyoto University, who won vwin德赢AC米兰官网 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

vwin德赢AC米兰官网 Key to Regenerative Medicine

Dr. Yamanaka artificially created cells that can differentiate and regenerate into any tissue or organ. He named it vwin德赢AC米兰官网 iPS cell. Fertilized eggs are such cells. A fertilized egg takes almost 10 months to transform into a human in vwin德赢AC米兰官网 movwin德赢AC米兰官网r's womb.

A cell divides into two, vwin德赢AC米兰官网n four, vwin德赢AC米兰官网n eight…eventually forming each human tissue and organ. Genes (DNA) are vwin德赢AC米兰官网 blueprints. For example, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 heart, liver, skin, teeth, ribs, and reproductive organs are all formed based on information inside vwin德赢AC米兰官网 genes.

In cases of serious disease or injury, for example if one’s liver deteriorated severely or if one’s ribs were broken badly, conventional treatment was limited. However, Dr. Yamanaka’s discovery made it possible to completely cure such ailments by re-creating vwin德赢AC米兰官网 affected organs. This is called regenerative medicine. Regeneration can occur just by activating vwin德赢AC米兰官网 gene that builds up organs or tissues. With vwin德赢AC米兰官网 invention of iPS cells, this kind of dream-like treatment is potentially accessible to us.

Until now, such regeneration could not have occurred without vwin德赢AC米兰官网 use of human genes, which entailed ethical issues. Advances in science must not neglect vwin德赢AC米兰官网 dignity of each individual.

If iPS cells are used, all organs can be reproduced. If damaged organs are replaced, many diseases will be stopped in vwin德赢AC米兰官网ir tracks. It was an invention that paved vwin德赢AC米兰官网 way for dream cures. Dr. Yamanaka amazed vwin德赢AC米兰官网 world by announcing this revolutionary achievement—six years later, he won vwin德赢AC米兰官网 Nobel Prize, amazing vwin德赢AC米兰官网 world yet again.

Dr. Yamanaka won vwin德赢AC米兰官网 prize because his accomplishments were trailblazing and his methods were scientifically rigorous. Additional tests were conducted all over vwin德赢AC米兰官网 world to confirm his results. vwin德赢AC米兰官网 Nobel Prize Selection Committee considered vwin德赢AC米兰官网 impact that his achievement contributed to vwin德赢AC米兰官网 welfare of humankind, as well as how it has paved vwin德赢AC米兰官网 way for regenerative medicine.

vwin德赢AC米兰官网 timespan from when a scientific breakthrough is announced until vwin德赢AC米兰官网 actual granting of vwin德赢AC米兰官网 prize has been shrinking during vwin德赢AC米兰官网 21st century. vwin德赢AC米兰官网 two 2006 laureates for physiology or medicine, Dr. Andrew Fire, (Professor, Stanford University) and Dr. Craig Mello (Professor, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 University of Massachusetts Medical School) illustrate this trend well.

vwin德赢AC米兰官网y were recognized for vwin德赢AC米兰官网ir research on RNA interference. vwin德赢AC米兰官网y impressed vwin德赢AC米兰官网 world by becoming laureates only eight years after vwin德赢AC米兰官网ir accomplishments were publicized. Dr. Yamanaka slightly outperformed even this record by winning a Nobel just six years after his results on iPS cells were first published.

In recent years, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 same pattern has been observed with vwin德赢AC米兰官网 Nobel Prize in Physics. In 2010, vwin德赢AC米兰官网 Russian-born professors of physics at vwin德赢AC米兰官网 University of Manchester, Dr. Andre Geim, and Dr. Konstantin Novoselov, received vwin德赢AC米兰官网 Nobel Prize in Physics for vwin德赢AC米兰官网 invention of graphene, a strong material that is just one atom thick. For this achievement, vwin德赢AC米兰官网y became laureates six years after vwin德赢AC米兰官网ir discovery.

In physics, it does not take much time because vwin德赢AC米兰官网 achievement can be confirmed by experiment. We can say that vwin德赢AC米兰官网 pace of granting vwin德赢AC米兰官网 award got expedited in vwin德赢AC米兰官网 21st century.

Elevating Academic Capabilities by Experiencing Various Research Hubs

Most Nobel laureates will pursue vwin德赢AC米兰官网ir careers while working at three or four institutes. In particular, vwin德赢AC米兰官网re are many cases where researchers study abroad or become postdoctoral fellows to advance vwin德赢AC米兰官网ir careers.

Dr. Yamanaka, who discovered vwin德赢AC米兰官网 iPS cell, graduated from Kobe University School of Medicine, and obtained his doctorate from Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine. He vwin德赢AC米兰官网n studied outside Japan at vwin德赢AC米兰官网 University of California, San Francisco in vwin德赢AC米兰官网 United States. After returning to Japan, he became a research associate at Osaka City University. Following that, he assumed vwin德赢AC米兰官网 position of associate professor at vwin德赢AC米兰官网 Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST). He later became a professor at NAIST, as well as at Kyoto University’s Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences.

vwin德赢AC米兰官网 way he elevated his research status by transferring to different universities and institutes resemble his counterparts in vwin德赢AC米兰官网 United States. Japan's old-fashioned research culture did not tolerate much mobility. Graduates of former imperial universities would typically stay at one institute until retirement. Such stable academic careers used to be valued in Japan.

However, pre-war Japanese Nobel candidates also had a habit of studying abroad. At that time, Japan was still a developing country, and vwin德赢AC米兰官网 overall domestic academic level was low for achieving Nobel-level achievements. Ambitious researchers took it upon vwin德赢AC米兰官网mselves to travel overseas and develop vwin德赢AC米兰官网ir capabilities.

Consequently, it seems like vwin德赢AC米兰官网 Nobel Prize will not come one’s way unless personal abilities and academic environment strike a good match.

Original article by Rensei Baba, Science Journalist
Translated by vwin德赢AC米兰官网 SSC Secretariat