Person Gurdon; Sir; John Bertrand (1933-2025); developmental biologist Gurdon John Bertrand Sir developmental biologist 1933-2025 British Male Dippenhall, Surrey, England, United Kingdom 02 October 1933 19331002 7 October 2025 20251007

Developmental biologist Stem cells Cloning Developmental biology Cell biology Education: Eton College, Windsor (1948); Christ Church, Oxford MA; DPhil Career: During his PhD studied, he demonstrated that the specialisation of cells is reversible; in a landmark experiment cloned a frog from a tadpole's intestinal cell (1962); joined the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge (1972); appointed John Humphrey Plummer Professor of Cell Biology, University of Cambridge (1983-2001); founded the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Institute of Cancer and Developmental Biology, Cambridge, in association with Ron Laskey and four other colleagues, becoming Director for the first ten years (1991-2001); served as a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (1991-1995); Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge (1995-2002). Medals and prizes: Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine, 2012 Honours: Kt 1995 Spouse: Jean Elizabeth Margaret Curtis Children: Two Performed pioneering research on nuclear transplantation and cloning. In his seminal experiment, John replaced the nucleus of a frog egg with the nucleus of a mature cell from the tadpole intestine. The resulting embryo grew into a healthy clone of the tadpole - indicating that, despite their specialisation, the nuclei of adult cells still hold the potential to become any other type of cell. However, John's discovery could not be fully confirmed until Shinya Yamanaka - with whom he was jointly awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - identified a small set of proteins expressed in embryos that conclusively induced the reversion of an adult somatic cell to an immature state. Responding to news that John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka have been awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society, said on 8 October 2012: “I was delighted to learn that John Gurdon shares this year’s Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Shinya Yamanaka. John’s work has changed the way we understand how cells in the body become specialised, paving the way for important developments in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. It’s very pleasing to see another of the Royal Society’s Fellows being recognised in this very special way. My congratulations go out to both John and Shinya.” , "John's work has changed the way we understand how cells in the body become specialised, paving the way for important developments in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. It's very pleasing to see another of the Royal Society's Fellows being recognised in the very special way." Paul Nurse in Oxford Times, 11 October 2012 Investigated the mechanisms by which egg cells reverse the specialisation of adult cells, aiming to produce replacements for damaged tissues from readily available sources, such as the skin. The techniques he developed to perform nuclear transfer remain in use today. Royal Society roles: Council: 1980-1982; 1993-1995 Medals and prizes: Royal Medal 1985; Copley Medal 2003 Lectures: Croonian 1976; Florey 1988; Rutherford Memorial 1996 Fellow 18/03/1971 37 The Royal Society Fellows Directory, Sir John Gurdon FMedSci FRS, [URL: https://royalsociety.org/people/john-gurdon-11557/; last accessed: 23/10/2025] Nature, John Gurdon obituary: Biologist who made cloning possible, Ron Laskey, 20 October 2025, [URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03418-5; last accessed: 23/10/2025] Magdalen College Cambridge, News, Professor Sir John Gurdon FRS (1933-2025), 7 October 2025, [URL: https://www.magd.cam.ac.uk/news/professor-sir-john-gurdon-frs-1933-2025; last accessed: 23/10/2025] Wellcome, News, Sir John Gurdon, 1933-2025, 8 October 2025, [URL: https://wellcome.org/insights/articles/sir-john-gurdon-1933-2025; last accessed: 23/10/2025] International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Gurdon%2C+John+Bertrand RCN 17806 RCN R82242 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/results?mi_search_type=adv&mi_adv_search=yes&adv_person_id=AUTH3632 2 Oct 1933 - The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 23/10/2025 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA935 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 23/10/2025 RS_NET\VidaM Yes 6f597f7e-b9a5-4031-9750-5b4fb6f7ccc1