Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun are introduced because the winners of the 2024 Nobel prize in physiology or drugs
Jonathan Nackstrand AFP by way of Getty Photos
The 2024 Nobel prize in physiology or drugs has been awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the invention of tiny items of RNA, referred to as microRNAs, that play a key function in regulating gene exercise in animals and vegetation.
The explanation they’re vital is {that a} single microRNA can management many alternative genes. A single gene can be regulated by a number of microRNAs.
“The seminal discovery of microRNAs has introduced a new and unexpected mechanism of gene regulation,” mentioned Olle Kämpe, the vice-chair of the Nobel committee for physiology and drugs. “These are important for our understanding of embryological development, normal physiology and diseases such as cancer.”
Ambros and Ruvkun made the invention whereas finding out mutant strains of a nematode worm referred to as Caenorhabditis elegans. Their work started within the Nineteen Eighties whereas on the identical lab. Ambros then moved to Harvard College and Ruvkun to Massachusetts Common Hospital, the place they continued finding out the mutant strains.
The directions for making proteins are saved within the DNA within the nucleus of cells. RNA copies of those directions, referred to as messenger RNAs, carry this info to the protein-making factories exterior the nucleus. Messenger RNAs, or mRNAs, will be many hundreds of RNA letters lengthy.
One method to management gene exercise is to cease mRNAs being made within the first place. One other is to cease mRNAs reaching the protein-making factories. In each circumstances, the result’s to stop the manufacturing of the protein encoded by the gene – or, as biologists say, to change off the gene.
MicroRNAs work within the second means. They’re tiny items of RNA, round 20 base pairs lengthy, whose sequence is complementary to a part of a number of mRNAs. When a microRNA binds to its complementary sequence on an mRNA, it sometimes results in the breakdown of that mRNA earlier than any protein will be made.
MicroRNAs normally act inside a cell, however are typically launched by cells to regulate exercise elsewhere in a physique. In some circumstances, organisms even launch microRNAs to regulate different organisms. That is normally executed by disease-causing organisms, however one symbiotic fungi was just lately found to launch microRNAs to assist it colonise tree roots.
Many teams are engaged on remedies primarily based on microRNAs, however to date none have but been authorized. The presence or absence of microRNAs can even assist diagnose sure medical situations.
Ambros and Ruvkun had been the primary to find a microRNA, in work executed within the Nineties. Nonetheless, the one they found, referred to as lin-4, controls just one gene, and the best way it really works was assumed to be particular to nematode worms. Due to this, their discovery acquired little consideration.
In 2000, Ruvkun reported the invention of one other microRNA, referred to as let-7. This controls 5 genes, and turned out to be widespread in animals. That led to very large curiosity in microRNAs, and plenty of hundreds have now been found in a big selection of organisms.
Thomas Perlmann, the secretary-general of the Nobel meeting, mentioned he hadn’t but contacted Ambros, however had spoken to Ruvkun and his spouse. “They were thrilled about the prize and coming to Stockholm,” mentioned Perlmann.
The 2023 Nobel prize in physiology or drugs was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for understanding methods to tweak mRNA to keep away from its destruction by the immune system, which was key to the event of mRNA vaccines, together with the covid-19 ones.
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