Life Biosciences Grows Up: A Q&A With Jerry McLaughlin

By Ben Comer, Chief Editor, Life Science Leader

It has been more than a decade since Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed backward to a pluripotent state. Yamanaka’s discovery opened the door to the potential for treatments capable of reversing the aging process and catalyzed the launch of dozens of biotech companies hoping to harness “epigenetic reprogramming” to create a fountain of youth, or at least an improved quality of life. Building on Yamanaka’s discovery is David Sinclair, who successfully used a selection of Yamanaka transcription factors to restore vision in aged mice, and, more recently, to restore vision in African green monkeys.