Nobel in Physiology or Medicine Awarded for Discovery of MicroRNA Role in GeneRegulation
Stockholm, Sweden – October 6, 2024 – The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has awarded the 2024 Nobel prize in Physiology or medicine to Victor ambros and gary Ruvkun for their groundbreaking discovery of microRNAs - small molecules that play a critical role in regulating gene activity. Their work has fundamentally altered our understanding of how genes are controlled and has opened new avenues for therapeutic interventions.
The laureates’ research, conducted independently, revealed that these microRNAs function as key regulators, activating or deactivating sections of genetic material. This discovery, decades in the making, has illuminated a previously unknown layer of complexity in the genetic code and its influence on biological processes.The award recognizes a pivotal advancement in molecular biology with far-reaching implications for understanding and treating disease.
since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded 112 times, with interruptions occurring during the World Wars (1915-1918, 1921, 1925, and 1940-1942). no individual has ever been honored with the prize more than once.
The prize includes a diploma, a gold medal, and 11 million Swedish crowns (approximately R $6.3 million). The formal award ceremony will take place in stockholm on december 10th, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
Historically,the youngest recipient of the prize was Frederick G. Banting, aged 31 in 1923 for the discovery of insulin, while Peyton Rous, at 87, was the oldest in 1966 for his work on tumor-inducing viruses. The prize has also been awarded to couples – Gerty and Carl Ferdinand Cori in 1947, and May-Britt and Edvard I. Moser in 2014 – and, on two occasions, to fathers and sons: Hans and Ulf von Euler-Chelpin (1929 and 1970 respectively), and Sune K. Bergström and svante Pääbo (1982 and 2022).
