The winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2024 are Viktor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun. The Nobel Committee announced this on Monday, October 7.
As noted by the committee, the Nobel Prize was awarded for the discovery of a fundamental principle regulating gene activity. Here’s how the essence of the research is explained on the committee's website.
“The information stored in our chromosomes can be compared to an operating manual for all the cells in our body. Each cell contains the same chromosomes, exactly the same set of genes, and exactly the same set of instructions as any other cell. Nevertheless, different types of cells, such as muscle and nerve cells, exhibit very different characteristics. How do these differences arise? The answer lies in gene regulation, which allows each cell to select only the relevant instructions. This ensures that in each type of cell, only the correct set of genes is active.
Viktor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were interested in how different types of cells develop. They discovered microRNA—a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation. Their groundbreaking discovery revealed an entirely new principle of gene regulation that is essential for all multicellular organisms, including humans. It is now known that the human genome encodes more than a thousand microRNAs. The researchers' discovery unveiled a completely new dimension of gene regulation. MicroRNAs, it turns out, are fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function.”
The regulation of genes by microRNAs, discovered by Ambros and Ruvkun, has been functioning for hundreds of millions of years, as highlighted in the description of the discovery. “This mechanism has facilitated the evolution of increasingly complex organisms. From genetic studies, we know that cells and tissues do not develop normally without microRNAs,” the authors of the press release continue. “Abnormal regulation of microRNAs can contribute to the development of cancer, and mutations in genes encoding microRNAs can cause congenital deafness, eye diseases, and skeletal disorders.”
The current laureates began their work in the 1980s in the laboratory of scientist Robert Horvitz, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2002. They studied Caenorhabditis elegans—a 1 mm long roundworm, where they discovered microRNAs. The results were published in 1993 in two articles; however, as stated in the press release, “they were met with almost deafening silence from the scientific community.” Colleagues of the future laureates believed their discovery was relevant only to the millimeter-long worm. Attitudes changed in 2000 when Ruvkun's research group published findings on the discovery of another type of microRNA that exists throughout the animal kingdom.
Viktor Ambros was born in 1953 in New Hampshire, USA, and received his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He conducted research at Harvard University and was a professor at the Dartmouth Medical School. He is currently a professor of natural sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Gary Ruvkun is from California and was born in 1952. He obtained his doctorate from Harvard University and completed his postdoctoral studies at MIT. He is currently a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded since 1901. According to the will of Alfred Nobel, the laureate in this category is determined by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, founded in 1810.
On Tuesday, October 8, the name of the Nobel Prize laureate in Physics will be announced, on October 9 for Chemistry, and on October 10 for Literature. The winner of the Peace Prize will be revealed in Oslo on Friday, October 11.