(AP) — The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA, a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated.
The Nobel Assembly said that their discovery is “proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function.”
Ambrose performed the research that led to his prize at Harvard University. He is currently a professor of natural science at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Rackham’s research was performed at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School, where he’s a professor of genetics, said Thomas Perlmann, Secretary-General of the Nobel Committee.
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Hungarian-American Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 that were critical in slowing the pandemic.
The prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million) from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.
The announcement launched this year’s Nobel Prize Award season.
Nobel announcements continue with the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday, and literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Oct. 14.
The laureates are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.
MicroRNA genes have evolved and expanded within the genomes of multicellular organisms for over 500 million years.
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2024
Today, we know that there are more than a thousand genes for different microRNAs in humans, and that gene regulation by microRNA – discovered by this year’s… pic.twitter.com/uQ2W0NMytm
Learn more about the 2024 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2024
Press release: https://t.co/Wj6Cc2dHCh
Advanced information: https://t.co/imycqrzdJp pic.twitter.com/52GNlm3qB3
The 2024 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine focuses on the discovery of a vital regulatory mechanism used in cells to control gene activity. Genetic information flows from DNA to messenger RNA (mRNA), via a process called transcription, and then on to the cellular machinery… pic.twitter.com/dZ61x0clw9
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2024
BREAKING NEWS
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2024
The 2024 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. pic.twitter.com/rg3iuN6pgY
This year’s medicine laureates Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun studied a relatively unassuming 1 mm long roundworm, C. elegans.
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2024
Despite its small size, C. elegans possesses many specialised cell types such as nerve and muscle cells also found in larger, more complex animals,… pic.twitter.com/sUN7HxbzhA