title: Lessons from a great developmental biologist.
abstract: The announcement that Sir John Gurdon had been awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology was received with great joy by developmental biologists. It was a very special occasion because of his total dedication to science and turning the Golden Rule of western civilization - love your neighbor as yourself - into a reality in our field. This essay attempts to explain how John became such a great scientific benefactor, and to review some of his discoveries that are less well known than the nuclear transplantation experiments. A few personal anecdotes are also included to illustrate the profound goodness of this unique man of science.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute and, Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1662, United States. Electronic address: ederobertis@mednet.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Edward M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: De Robertis
mesh_terms: D015509:Developmental Biology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D009613:Nobel Prize
keywords: JB Gurdon; Nuclear reprogramming; Nuclear transplantation; Xenopus