Discoverer of microRNA: Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to gene regulation researcher

Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Discoverer of microRNA: Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to gene regulation researcher 2 hours • 2 minutes reading time Thomas Perlmann (r), Secretary of the Nobel Assembly, announces the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine, Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun. This year's Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to the Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of microRNA and its role in gene regulation. This was announced by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. The two researchers discovered a fundamental principle for controlling gene activity, it said. "Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that proved to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans," the Nobel Committee said in its justification. MicroRNAs are proving to be fundamentally important for the development and function of organisms. Instructions for use for cells The information stored in the chromosomes can be compared to instructions for use for all cells in the body. Every cell contains the same chromosomes and thus the same set of genes. Nevertheless, different cell types such as muscle and nerve cells have very different properties. Gene regulation mechanisms, as described by Ambros and Ruvkun, play a role in this. Victor Ambros (born 1953) works at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Gary Ruvkun (born 1952) at Harvard Medical School and at Massachusetts General Hospital. As in the previous year, the most important award for doctors is worth 11 million Swedish kronor (just under 970,000 euros). It goes equally to the two researchers. Last year, Hungarian-born biochemist Katalin Karikó and US immunologist Drew Weissman received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their persistent preparatory work on the development of so-called mRNA vaccines against corona. With their research, they had contributed "to the unprecedented pace of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times," the Karolinska Institute announced. 227 winners, award ceremony on December 10 Since 1901, 227 people have received the Nobel Prize in Medicine, including 13 women. The first went to the German bacteriologist Emil Adolf von Behring for the discovery of a therapy for diphtheria. In 1995, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard was the first and so far only German woman to receive this award for her work on the genetic control of early embryonic development. The Nobel Prize series started with the Medicine Prize. The winners of the Physics and Chemistry Prizes will be announced on Tuesday and Wednesday. This is followed by those for literature and for peace. The series of announcements ends next Monday with the so-called Nobel Prize for Economics, donated by the Swedish Riksbank. The ceremonial awarding of all awards traditionally takes place on December 10, the anniversary of the death of the prize founder Alfred Nobel. The winners of this year's Alternative Nobel Prizes were announced by the Right Livelihood Foundation last Thursday. (dpa)