- The discovery is of a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation | Photo: EFE
American scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were recognized with the 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for the discovery of micro-RNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. This was reported on Monday, October 7, by the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm (Sweden).
“This year’s Nobel Prize honors two scientists for their discovery of a fundamental principle that governs the regulation of gene activity,” the Swedish Academy explained in a statement.
Ambros and Ruvkun became interested in how different cell types develop and discovered micro-RNAs, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play “a crucial role” in gene regulation.
“Their revolutionary discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans. It is now known that the human genome encodes more than a thousand microRNAs,” the academy highlighted.
The contribution of research
Understanding the regulation of gene activity has been an important goal for many decades. Abnormal regulation can contribute to cancer, diabetes or autoimmunity.
In humans, mutations have been detected in genes that encode micro-RNA, causing conditions such as congenital hearing loss and eye and skeletal disorders.
“This year’s Nobel Prize focuses on the discovery of a vital regulatory mechanism used in cells to control the activity of genes,” underlines the statement, which specifies that genetic information passes from DNA to messenger RNA (mRNA) through a process called transcription, and from there to the cellular machinery for protein production.
In this process, mRNAs are transformed so that proteins develop according to the genetic instructions stored in DNA.
Previous discoveries
In the 1960s it was shown that specialized proteins, known as transcription factors, can bind to specific regions of DNA and control the flow of genetic information by determining what mRNA is produced.
Since then, thousands of transcription factors have been identified, and it was long believed that the fundamental principles of gene regulation had been resolved.
However, in 1993, Ambros and Ruvkun published unexpected findings describing a new level of gene regulation, which turned out to be highly significant and conserved throughout evolution.
The Nobel Prizes
The Nobel Prize in Medicine is the first in the round of these prestigious awards, while on Monday, October 14, the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace and finally Economics will be announced.
These recognitions were created by the Swedish inventor Alfredo Nobel, creator of dynamite, who specified in his will in 1895 that his fortune be used to reward those people who brought benefits to humanity.
Thus, since 1901, five years after Nobel’s death, these prizes have been awarded to people or institutions around the world that have made “exceptional” contributions to the benefit of humanity.
However, the recognition for Economic Sciences was created in 1968 by the Bank of Sweden.
The Nobel winners in 2023
These are the winners of the different categories of the 2023 Nobel Prize:
-Nobel Peace Prize: Narges Mohammadi, imprisoned Iranian activist. She was recognized for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her defense of human rights.
-Nobel Prize in Physics: Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier for developing experimental methods that generate light pulses in attoseconds, which makes it possible to study the dynamics of electrons in matter.
-Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov, for their pioneering work in the discovery and development of quantum dots, materials that have important applications in technology and medicine.
-Nobel Prize in Medicine: Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, for their fundamental research on modifications of messenger RNA, which contributed to the development of vaccines against covid-19.
Nobel Prize in Literature: Jon Fosse, Norwegian writer, was awarded for his deeply meditative works, which explore the human experience in a minimalist and poetic style.
Venezuelans proposed for the Nobel Prize
Throughout history, several Venezuelans have been nominated for the Nobel Prize, mainly in the Peace category.
These are some of the Venezuelans who have appeared on the list of proposed candidates:
-Rómulo Gallegos for the Nobel Prize in Literature, for his work Doña Barbara. It was proposed by the writer and history professor Lars Gyllensten, who was a member of the Swedish Academy.
-José Gregorio Hernández for the Nobel Peace Prize, for his humanitarian work and contribution to social well-being in Venezuela. It was postulated by religious people.
-Rafael Caldera for the Nobel Peace Prize, for his role in the pacification of the country after the guerrillas in the sixties and for his commitment to democracy. It is not known who nominated him.
-María Corina Machado for the Nobel Peace Prize, for her fight for human rights and democracy in Venezuela. It was proposed by four presidents of universities in Florida (United States).
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2024-10-08 02:32:11
