Cancer, Epigenetics And The Nobel Prizes

Abstract

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 have been awarded jointly to Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka “for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent” as it is described in the Nobel Prize web site. Professors Gurdon and Yamanaka have all the merits to be bestowed with such a prestigious award for their seminal discoveries in the area. However, we can also consider this annual prize as a recognition to Epigenetics, similarly to the Nobel Prize of 2006 for Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello for their of RNA interference - gene silencing by doublestranded RNA. Reprogramming requires changing the epigenome of the cells and non-coding RNAs are critical elements in the establishment of epigenetic patterns