STOCKHOLM, Oct 7 (Reuters) – U.S. scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering microRNA and its vital role in multicellular organism development. The Nobel assembly announced the award on Monday.
The laureates identified a new class of tiny RNA molecules that are crucial for gene regulation. Their groundbreaking work revealed a novel principle of gene regulation essential for multicellular organisms, including humans.
Their research explained how cells specialize and develop into different types, like muscle and nerve cells, even though all cells share the same genetic instructions. Thomas Perlmann, the secretary of the Nobel committee for physiology, reached Ruvkun by phone, waking him up early. Perlmann noted Ruvkun was initially tired but became enthusiastic about the award.
Ambros is a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, while Ruvkun is a professor at Harvard Medical School and affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. In the late 1980s, they studied a 1 mm roundworm in Robert Horvitz’s lab, who won a Nobel Prize in 2002.
Their work on microRNAs in the roundworm was initially seen as specific to that species. However, further research published by Ruvkun’s group in 2000 showed that this mechanism has existed in all animal life for over 500 million years.
MicroRNA is involved when single-strand messenger RNA (mRNA) is decoded and translated into proteins, the building blocks of life. mRNA emerges from DNA, the universal blueprint found in every cell nucleus.
The Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute awards the prize, which includes a sum of 11 million Swedish crowns (about $1.1 million). The medicine prize is traditionally the first Nobel to be announced, with the other prizes revealed in the coming days.
Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor, established these prestigious awards in his will. The prizes have been given since 1901 for significant achievements in science, literature, and peace. The economics prize was added later. Past medicine prize winners include notable figures like Ivan Pavlov and Alexander Fleming.
Last year, the prize went to Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for their work that led to COVID-19 vaccines, which helped combat the pandemic.
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