Japanese stem cell researcher wins Balzan prize
(AP) -- The Balzan Foundation says its prize for the biology of stem cells has gone to a Japanese researcher for discovering a way to transform adult cells into cells with the characteristics of stem cells.
The prize to Shinya Yamanaka is one of four - two for sciences, two in humanities - announced Monday.
Brazilian mathematician Jacob Palis was cited for his work in dynamic systems.
The humanities prizes go to Italian historian Carlo Ginzburg, the father of micro-history, for his contributions to the study of ordinary people in Europe, and to German Manfred Bauneck for his history of the European theater.
The foundation was established by the family of Italian journalist Eugenio Balzan, who fled his homeland to Switzerland in the 1930s to oppose Fascist pressure.
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