Shinya Yamanaka
Shinya Yamanaka
Shinya Yamanakais a Japanese Nobel Prize-winning stem cell researcher. He serves as the director of Center for iPS CellResearch and Application and a professor at the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto University; as a senior investigator at the UCSF-affiliated J. David Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, California; and as a professor of anatomy at University of California, San Francisco. Yamanaka is also a past president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research...
NationalityJapanese
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth4 September 1962
CountryJapan
Researchers should always consider ethical concerns on scientific research and disclose their data to the public. Scientists also need to discuss issues surrounding their research with those who are concerned.
I think that the discoveries of antibiotics and vaccines have contributed to the improvement of the quality of life, making it possible to prevent contagious diseases.
I think that in the 21st century, medical biology will advance at a more rapid pace than before.
Patients' lives are more important than embryos. I do want to avoid the use of embryos if possible.
My goals over the decade include to develop new drugs to treat intractable diseases by using iPS cell technology and to conduct clinical trials using it on a few patients with Parkinson's diseases, diabetes or blood diseases.
I started my career as a surgeon 25 years ago. But it turned out that I am not talented as a surgeon, so I decided to change my career. But I still feel that I am a doctor. So my goal, all my life, is to bring this stem-cell technology to the bedside.
There is no way now to get around some use of embryos. But my goal is to avoid using them.
I grew so depressed from the lack of support that I considered quitting. No one understood me.
I thought, we can’t keep destroying embryos for our research. There must be another way.
I like the freedom of research. Plus, if I fail in science, I know I can always survive because I have an M.D. This has been my insurance policy.
When I saw the embryo, I suddenly realized there was such a small difference between it and my daughters. I thought, we can't keep destroying embryos for our research. There must be another way.
IPS cells can become a powerful tool to develop new drugs to cure intractable diseases because they can be made from patients' somatic cells.