The 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology goes to the American biologist Victor Ambros and his compatriot, the geneticist Gary Ruvkun, for the discovery of microRNA and its important role in gene regulation. The Nobel Prize Committee of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm announced this on Monday morning.
Short, highly conserved, non-coding ribonucleic acids that play an important role in the complex network of gene regulation are known as microRNA (abbreviated as miRNA or miR).
New principle of gene regulation discovered
Ambros and Ruvkun’s groundbreaking discovery in a tiny worm called C. elegans reveals a completely new principle of gene regulation. This turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans, the jury said in its statement. MicroRNAs appear to be fundamental to the development and functioning of organisms.
The prize is worth almost 970,000 euros
Last year, the Hungarian Katalin Karikó and the American researcher Drew Weissman were honored. The duo received the prize for their discoveries on modifying nucleoside bases, which enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against Covid-19. This year the prize money was increased to eleven million Swedish kronor (the equivalent of almost 970,000 euros) per category.
Prizes for physics and chemistry follow
The winners for physics will be announced on Tuesday and those for chemistry on Wednesday. After the science prizes, the Nobel Prize for Literature will be awarded as usual on Thursday, followed by the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
Award ceremony on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death
The final event next Monday is the Prize for Economics – the only prize that was not included in the will of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. The prize is traditionally awarded on December 10, the anniversary of founder Alfred Nobel’s death.
Source: Krone
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