STOCKHOLM − The 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded to U.S. researchers Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their groundbreaking work on microRNA and its essential role in the growth and development of multicellular organisms, according to an announcement made on Monday.

The Nobel assembly emphasized that the duo uncovered a new class of small RNA molecules that are vital for gene regulation.

Ambros and Ruvkun discovered these tiny RNA molecules in the 1980s, which were noted for their significant role in controlling gene expression, as stated by the Nobel assembly.

“Their innovative findings introduced a whole new concept of gene regulation that is crucial for multicellular life forms, including humans,” the assembly mentioned.

Their research provided insight into how cells differentiate and develop into specialized types, such as muscle and nerve cells, despite the fact that every cell within an organism contains the identical set of genes and growth instructions.

Thomas Perlmann, the secretary of the Nobel committee for physiology, shared that he managed to reach Ruvkun by phone early in the morning U.S. time, waking him up, but he was eventually quite thrilled and “very enthusiastic.” Perlmann had not yet managed to contact Ambros at that time.

“(Ruvkun’s) wife answered the phone. It took a while before he could come to the phone, and he sounded very sleepy,” Perlmann narrated during a press briefing.

Ambros is a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, while Ruvkun holds a position at Harvard Medical School, as well as being affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

In the late 1980s, Ambros and Ruvkun conducted postdoctoral research in Robert Horvitz’s laboratory, who himself received a Nobel Prize in 2002, focusing on a tiny roundworm measuring 1mm.

Initially, their findings regarding how specific microRNAs control the growth of organs and tissues in the roundworm were dismissed as specific to that species.

However, further studies published by Ruvkun’s research group in 2000 demonstrated that all animal life had depended on this mechanism for over 500 million years.

Fundamental Elements of Life

MicroRNA is involved in the process when single-strand messenger RNA − the focus of last year’s Nobel Prize in medicine − is read and translated into proteins, which constitute the fundamental components of all human and animal life.

Messenger RNA originates from the universal genetic blueprint found within each cell’s nucleus, which is composed of double-helix DNA.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine winners are chosen by the Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and receive an award of $1.1 million.

This prize for physiology or medicine is traditionally announced first among the Nobel categories, seen as some of the most esteemed awards in the fields of science, literature, and humanitarian efforts, with other prize announcements scheduled for the following days.

Established according to the will of Swedish inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel, these prizes have honored advancements in science, literature, and peace since 1901, with economics being a later addition to the list.

Notable previous recipients of the Nobel medicine prize include famed researchers like Ivan Pavlov in 1904, recognized for his behavioral experiments with dogs, and Alexander Fleming, who shared the 1945 prize for discovering penicillin.

Last year’s award was given to popular contenders Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman, for their groundbreaking discoveries that facilitated the development of COVID-19 vaccines that significantly helped in tackling the pandemic.

The prestigious science, literature, and economics prizes are awarded during a ceremony on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s passing, followed by an elegant banquet at Stockholm city hall. Meanwhile, the peace prize is celebrated separately in Oslo on the same date.