The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded this Monday, October 7, to American researchers Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA, a new type of tiny RNA molecule that has a crucial role in regulating gene activity.
>>> You may be interested: María Corina Machado could be one of those chosen for the Nobel Peace Prize
“This year’s Nobel Prize rewards two scientists for their discovery of a fundamental principle that acts in the regulation of gene activity,” the jury said in a statement.
MicroRNAs “are of fundamental importance for the development and function of organisms.”
Ambros, 70, and Ruvkun, 72, published their findings on “a new level of gene regulation” in two separate papers in 1993, which was decisive.
The two researchers, who collaborate together but work separately, carried out their work using a one-millimeter roundworm, C. elegans, to determine why and when cellular mutations occur.
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Medicine went to Hungarian researcher Katalin Kariko and American Drew Weissman for the development of messenger RNA technology that paved the way for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines.
What do they gain?
Ambros and Ruvkun for their discovery
?
The prize carries a reward of 11 million crowns (more than a million dollars), that are distributed in case there are several winners.
The season of these prestigious awards will continue on Tuesday with Physics, on Wednesday with Chemistry, before the most anticipated Literature, on Thursday, and Peace, on Friday. The Economics award, created more recently, closes the series next Monday.
>>> We recommend you read: Alice Munro, Nobel Prize winner in literature, died at 92
Source: https://www.noticiascaracol.com/mundo/premio-nobel-de-medicina-fue-otorgado-para-ambros-y-ruvkun-por-el-microarn-cb20
