Nobel medicine prize shared by British and Japanese scientists The Nobel Prize for Medicine has been shared between Britain's John Gurdon and Japan's Shinya Yamanaka. The pair were honoured for what the jury called the "the groundbreaking discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent." The duo will also split the prize of 8 million crowns (1 million euros), the Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute said in a statement. The two scientists found that mature, specialised cells can be reprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body. Their findings revolutionised understanding of how cells and organisms develop. The practical result can be that skin cells can be obtained from ill people to find out more about their diseases and develop new therapies.