Subhi Agrawal
The two US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun have been given the 2024 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their work on the discovery of microRNA, a molecule that regulates the functioning of cells in the body.
Nobel Prize Celebrates Landmark Findings in Gene Regulation
Their research uncovered how genes, which serve as the instruction manual for life, lead to the formation of various cell types in the human body, a process referred to as gene regulation.
The Nobel Prize committee announced the esteemed award, regarded as the highest accolade in scientific achievement, in Sweden on Monday. It commended the “groundbreaking discovery,” stating that it “uncovered an entirely new dimension to gene regulation.”
The discovery of gene regulation by microRNA—a family of molecules that aids cells in controlling the types of proteins they produce and has been functioning for hundreds of millions of years—resulted from decades of research by Ambros, a professor of natural science at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Ruvkun, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School.
“Their discovery… is of fundamental importance to understand how cells work, and thus how organisms develop,” stated Love Dalén, a professor of evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University. “This finding was groundbreaking, and has affected more or less all fields of biology and medicine,” he said through email, as per CNN.
“The information stored within our chromosomes can be likened to an instruction manual for all cells in our body. Every cell contains the same chromosomes, so every cell contains exactly the same set of genes and exactly the same set of instructions,” the committee stated in a statement, detailing the scientists’ work.
Committee Highlights Gene Regulation’s Role in Cell Differentiation
Despite this, various cell types—such as muscle and nerve cells—exhibit distinct characteristics. The two biologists have dedicated their careers to exploring how these differences develop.
“The answer lies in 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,” the committee stated.
Gene regulation by microRNA has facilitated the evolution of more complex organisms. When gene regulation malfunctions, it can result in cancer and other conditions in humans and animals, such as hearing loss and skeletal disorders.
“MicroRNAs are very much implicated in cancer. There is ongoing research to make treatments or utilize micro RNAs – mimic microRNA or block microRNA – to treat cancer. There’s some technical hurdles in that so there’s not been any drugs yet,” said Thomas Perlmann, secretary-general of the Nobel Assembly.
In a report by CNN, he said, “We’re awarding this because of its fundamental importance for the basic understanding of physiology. We know historically that these big discoveries, they translate into clinical improvements but it takes time.”
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings