Words by Isabel O’Brien
American researchers Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their pioneering discovery of microRNA, a class of tiny RNA molecules that play a pivotal role in how cells differentiate and specialise.
Their findings shed light on fundamental biological mechanisms that underlie the development and growth of multicellular organisms, revealing how, despite having identical genetic material, cells can perform vastly different functions.
“The Nobel’s, you know, there’s a word we use for Major League Baseball, it’s called ‘The Show’. Which means it’s not any show, it’s THE show,” Ruvkun told Reuters following the announcement, expressing his excitement at receiving the prestigious award. He also remarked that his collaboration with Ambros over the years felt like they were “joined at the hip” and emphasised the strength of their partnership, saying, “That’s been great. He’s a wonderful guy.” Ambros echoed these sentiments, stating he was delighted to share the honour with “a great friend”.
The Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute highlighted that the researchers’ breakthrough work, initially conducted on a tiny roundworm model, introduced a completely new principle of gene regulation. This principle turned out to be essential for the growth and survival of all multicellular organisms including humans. Describing microRNA, Ambros explained it as “a communication network amongst genes that enables the cells in our bodies to generate all kinds of different complex structures and functions.”
Ambros, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Ruvkun, a professor at Harvard Medical School and affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, began their groundbreaking research in the late 1980s. Working as postdoctoral fellows in the lab of Nobel laureate Robert Horvitz, they discovered the role of microRNA in regulating growth in a 1mm-long roundworm species. Although initially dismissed as a species-specific phenomenon, subsequent research by Ruvkun’s team in 2000 demonstrated that the mechanism had been relied on for animal life for over 500 million years.
Professor Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam of the Karolinska Institute noted that while last year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded for mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines, this year’s award recognises a leap in our basic understanding of biology with potential future applications in multiple fields.
Janosch Heller, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Sciences, Dublin City University, added that the discovery of microRNA has enhanced our understanding of various diseases including epilepsy and opened new avenues for therapeutic development.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is the first of six Nobel prizes announced annually, recognising outstanding contributions to science, literature and humanitarian efforts. Each laureate receives 11m Swedish crowns (1.1m USD) and is celebrated in a ceremony on 10 December in Stockholm, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel’s death.
MicroRNA’s discovery marks a milestone in our grasp of the intricate regulation of genes and has become an essential concept in medical research, further establishing the work of Ambros and Ruvkun as transformative in understanding the building blocks of life.
