Shinya Yamanaka shook the stem cell research field with his work taking adult skin cells [0] and turning them into embryonic stem cells. The key was identifying 24 genes that were the odds-on favorite for reprogramming the cell and then narrowing it to four that worked. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Yamanaka discusses how he operates a barebones lab on a million dollars a year, marveling at the billions of dollars that are spent in the U.S [0]. Researchers in Japan, he says, are lone wolves. And he notes that ESC research is widely understood in the U.S., but barely registers on the Japanese psyche.

- read the report [1] from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)

Related Article:
Adult stem cell prototype on the horizon. Report [1]