The Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies expresses its condolences on the passing of Sir John Bertrand Gurdon

The Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies expresses its deepest condolences on the passing of Sir John Bertrand Gurdon, professor at the University of Cambridge and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012. In the early 1960s, Gurdon's studies paved the way for a new understanding of cell biology by showing that, under certain conditions, cells can rejuvenate and regain plasticity. His discovery laid the foundations for research into cloning.

In 2019, John Gurdon received an Honorary PhD in Translational Medicine from the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies. His lectio magistralis entitled “Past, Present and Future of Nuclear Reprogramming” summarised his revolutionary studies.

The memory of Vincenzo Lionetti

Sir John Gurdon's discoveries paved the way for questions that today guide regenerative medicine and translational research: ‘how to define the age of a cell and how to reverse the processes that deplete it’. It is remarkable to think that these revolutionary insights arose from studies conducted when Gurdon was still a doctoral student, the same young British scientist who had been mocked by his high school biology teacher and cultivated a passion for squash and the natural sciences, and who then continued his academic career at Oxford thanks to a bet. A keen observer, during his visit to the Sant'Anna School and Pisa, he was very impressed by: the talent of the students, the statue of Sisyphus (he wanted to know who the artist was and kept a photo of it in Cambridge), the school's magnolia tree, which he stared at for over 15 minutes, and the welcome he received from the entire academic world in Pisa. His brilliant work has rewritten the textbooks on cell biology and continues to inspire generations of researchers and clinicians who carry on despite everything.