The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to American scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their pioneering research on microRNA.
Their groundbreaking discoveries shed light on how complex life forms emerged on Earth and how the human body consists of diverse tissues.
MicroRNAs play a crucial role in regulating gene expression—the fundamental instructions for life—within various organisms, including humans.
The prize comes with a fund of 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately £810,000).
All cells in the human body contain the same genetic blueprint stored in our DNA. Despite sharing this identical genetic information, the cells exhibit remarkable differences in structure and function. For instance, nerve cells generate electrical impulses, while heart cells contract rhythmically. Liver cells serve as metabolic powerhouses, and kidney cells efficiently filter urea from the blood. Additionally, retinal cells are specialized for light sensing, contrasting sharply with white blood cells that produce antibodies to combat infections.
This extraordinary variety arises from gene expression. Ambros and Ruvkun were the first to identify microRNAs and demonstrate how they regulate gene expression differently across various tissues.
The Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute selects the winners of the medicine and physiology prize. They stated, "Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that is essential for multicellular organisms, including humans. It is now known that the human genome encodes over 1,000 microRNAs."
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