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Published 7 October 2024 by LINO News

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2024

On Monday, 7 October 2024, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun “for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation”.

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun. Credit: Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach

From the press release of Karolinska Institutet:

“This year’s Nobel Prize honors two scientists for their discovery of a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated.

The information stored within our chromosomes can be likened to an instruction manual for all cells in our body. Every cell contains the same chromosomes, so every cell contains exactly the same set of genes and exactly the same set of instructions. Yet, different cell types, such as muscle and nerve cells, have very distinct 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 only the correct set of genes is active in each cell type.”