Medicine opened the Nobel season on Monday, October 7, 2024. This prestigious prize was awarded to Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of micro-RNA and its role in the post-transcriptional regulation of genes.
Discovered in the late 1990s, the micro-RNA (often abbreviated to "miRNAs") are short nucleotide sequences that have the ability to pair with target messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Upon pairing, the mRNA is cleaved in two at the binding site, and gene expression of the protein is blocked. MiRNAs are involved in various major cellular processes such as development, cell differentiation and proliferation, and apoptosis (programmed cell death).
Gary Ruvkun and Victor Ambros in 2014. Credits – Creative Commons CC-BY-NCSA 2.0
KRAS gene and epigenetics among the favorites
Among the favorites was American biologist Kevan Shokat for his work on mutations in gene KRAS which causes the proliferation of cells and can lead to difficult-to-treat cancers, such as lung, colon and pancreatic tumors.
Also cited as favorites were the work of neuroscientists Ann M. Graybiel, Okihide Hikosaka and Wolfram Schultz on the neural mechanisms that guide our behavior and research on epigenetics, epitomized by the work of Davor Solter and Azim Surani on the mechanisms within cells that control gene activity without modifying DNA.
The announcement of the winner(s) was to be followed from 11:30 a.m. in the video below, live from Stockholm (Sweden).
In 2023, mRNA vaccines, “popularized” because of Covid, in the spotlight
In 2023, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to Hungarian-American Katalin Kariko and American Drew Weissman for their discoveries that enabled the development of mRNA vaccines.
The breakthrough discoveries of Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman date back to 2005 and the first mRNA vaccines against Covid-19 were subsequently manufactured by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna laboratories.
In the midst of the pandemic, many people have become familiar with the principle of mRNA vaccines: they focus on a small part of the virus – in the case of SARS-CoV-2, the so-called “Spike” protein – and aim to inject into the body strands of genetic instructions, called mRNA, ordering the body to manufacture this protein. Harmless in itself, this coronavirus “spike” is then detected by the immune system, which will produce antibodies.
Nobel Prize 2023: the winners. Credits: Valentina BRESCHI, Gal ROMA, Paz PIZARRO / AFP
In 2022, Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo rewards
In 2022, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to the Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, one of the pioneers of paleogenetics, for his discoveries concerning the hominin genome and human evolution. Svante Paabo revealed that there was Neanderthal in a large part of current humanity. He even managed to make 400,000-year-old DNA speak.
The 2024 Nobel Calendar
- Tuesday October 8th at 11:45 a.m.: Nobel Prize in Physics
- Wednesday October 9th at 11:45 am: Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Thursday October 10th at 1 p.m.: Nobel Prize in Literature
- Friday October 11th at 11am: Nobel Peace Prize
- Monday October 14th at 11:45 am: Nobel Prize in Economics
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