British researcher John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka of Japan have won this year's Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology. They won for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed into stem cells.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was announced today in Stockholm, Sweden. Two men share that prize.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 jointly to John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent.

INSKEEP: Pluripotent - that is a word we have rarely used on MORNING EDITION, but we'll use it this morning. These men will split a prize worth about one million U.S. dollars. And we're going to try to explain what pluripotency means. NPR health correspondent Rob Stein is here.

Rob, good morning.

ROB STEIN, BYLINE: Good morning.

INSKEEP: OK. What is it? What did they do?

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Nobel Season Kicks Off With Medicine Prize