Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for MicroRNA Discovery

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet on Monday announced that the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to American biologists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their groundbreaking discovery of microRNA and its pivotal role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.

Their seminal work uncovered an entirely new dimension of genetic regulation across complex organisms, demonstrating how tiny non-coding RNA molecules serve as cellular switches that dictate which proteins cells produce throughout life cycles.

Unlocking a Fundamental Mechanism of Cellular Control

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Ambros and Ruvkun investigated mutations in the microscopic nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. While geneticists initially presumed their findings represented an odd quirk confined to roundworms, subsequent experiments proved that microRNA regulation is universally conserved throughout the animal kingdom.

Human genomes encode more than a thousand distinct microRNAs, which collectively control the activity of thousands of protein-coding genes involved in tissue development, immune defense, and cardiac physiology.

“Ambros and Ruvkun's seminal discovery revealed a completely new dimension of gene regulation, proving that tiny non-coding RNAs are essential for complex multicellular life.” — Olle Kämpe, Vice Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine

From Nematode Model to Broad Biomedical Applications

The Nobel Committee emphasized that defects in microRNA regulation contribute to numerous severe human conditions, including oncological malignancies, neurodegenerative syndromes, and metabolic abnormalities, opening novel pathways for diagnostic assays and therapeutic interventions.

The laureates will formally receive their diplomas, gold medals, and a shared cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor at the annual Nobel Prize ceremony scheduled for December in Stockholm, joining an illustrious lineage of biomedical pioneers.

Sources

• The Nobel Prize
• Karolinska Institutet