The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine has been awarded to scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.
The winners for medicine were chosen by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute medical university.
The two scientists were honoured for their discovery of a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated, read a statement from the Assembly.
In simpler language, our chromosomes store information that's like an instruction manual for all cells in our body.
Every cell contains the same chromosomes, which means it has exactly the same set of genes and exactly the same set of instructions.
However different cell types, such as muscle and nerve cells, have very distinct characteristics.
The differences arise die to gene regulation, which allows each cell to select only the relevant instructions. This ensures that only the correct set of genes is active in each cell type.
Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun wanted to understand how different cell types develop.
They discovered microRNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation.
This discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans.
"It is now known that the human genome codes for over one thousand microRNAs. Their surprising discovery revealed an entirely new dimension to gene regulation. MicroRNAs are proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function," said the statement.
Ambros and Ruvkun's work helps scientists understand gene activity and how cells activate some genes and silence others in a very important process for the development and function of organisms.
Both will receive a sum of 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million).
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