bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Associated Press

Reuters

US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun won the Nobel Prize in Medicine on Monday for their discovery of microRNA and its role in how genes are regulated.
Understanding the regulation of gene activity has been an important goal for decades, the Nobel jury said.
If gene regulation goes awry, it can lead to serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, or autoimmunity.
“Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans,” the jury said.
Ruvkun, 72, told Swedish public radio SR he was shocked to receive the prize committee’s call in the wee hours of Monday.
“It’s a big deal. It’s a big one. It’s an earthquake,” he said.
“The dog is confused by why it’s dark outside, and we are running around the house,” laughed Ruvkun, a professor at Harvard Medical School.
He said he looked forward to the Nobel gala banquet on December 10 in Stockholm, where the laureates will receive their prizes from the hands of Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf.
“It’s a party. You don’t think of a bunch of scientists as party animals but we really are.”

The Nobel Committee failed however to reach Ambros, who learned the news from an SR reporter who called and broke the news.
“Wow, that’s incredible! I didn’t know that,” the 70-year-old professor at the University of Massachusetts medical school said, adding: “Good. Wonderful.”
Collaborating but working separately, the pair conducted research on a 1 millimetre roundworm, C. elegans, to determine why cell mutations occurred and when.
They discovered microRNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation, which in turn allows each cell to select only relevant instructions.
Their findings were published in two articles in 1993.
“The seminal discovery of microRNA has introduced a new and unexpected mechanism of gene regulation,” Thomas Perlmann, secretary general of the Nobel Assembly, told reporters.

“MicroRNAs are important for our understanding of embryological development, normal cell physiology and diseases such as cancer,” he said.
Ambros, 70, is a professor at the University of Massachusetts medical school while Ruvkun, 72, is a professor at Harvard Medical School.
The pair will receive their Nobel Prize, consisting of a diploma, a gold medal and a US$1 million cheque, from King Carl XVI Gustaf in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of scientist Alfred Nobel who created the prizes in his last will and testament.
Last year, the medicine prize went to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for work on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology that paved the way for Covid-19 vaccines.
The Nobel season continues this week with the announcement of the winners of the physics prize on Tuesday and the chemistry prize on Wednesday.
They will be followed by the much-anticipated prizes for literature on Thursday and peace on Friday.
Several pundits believe Chinese author Can Xue will be the Swedish Academy’s choice this year – and she has the lowest odds on several betting sites.

An avant-garde fiction writer often likened to Kafka, her experimental style flips between utopia and dystopia and transforms the mundane into the surreal.
“I think it will be a woman from a language zone outside Europe,” Bjorn Wiman, culture editor at Sweden’s newspaper of record, Dagens Nyheter, said.
Others suggest it could go to Australian novelist Gerald Murnane, Britain’s Salman Rushdie or Kenya’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o.
The climax of the week comes on Friday, when the Nobel Peace Prize laureate is announced, but experts say predictions are harder than ever this year due to the growing number of crises in the world.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, the International Court of Justice and Afghan women’s rights activist Mahbouba Seraj have been mentioned as possibilities.
Given the existential risks to humanity posed by weapons systems that can operate autonomously without human control, several Nobel-watchers have also cited the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots as a potential laureate.


Trump blasts Biden for commuting nearly all US federal death sentences

Nasa’s Parker Solar Probe ventures closer to Sun than ever with Christmas Eve fly-by

American Airlines resumes US flights after Christmas Eve technical issue strands thousands

Who are the 6 Scream Queens of 2024? From Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice actress Jenna Ortega, and The Substance’s Margaret Qualley

United States

Nobel Prize for medicine awarded for ‘groundbreaking’ discovery of microRNA

Nobel Committee Secretary General Thomas Perlmann speaks to the media in front of a picture of this year’s laureates Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkum during the announcement of the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Photo: AFP

Harvard Medical School professor and an investigator at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Gary Ruvkun. Photo: Harvard Medical School/Joshua Touster/Reuters

Victor Ambros, PhD, the Silverman Chair in Natural Sciences and professor of molecular medicine. Photo: UMass via AP

Chinese eriter Can Xue is among the favourites to win the Nobel Prize for literature. Phot: Chen Xiaozhen/AFP

Experts hail new schizophrenia drug Cobenfy as a game-changer, the ‘first of its kind’

The new schizophrenia drug Cobenfy has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and has experts excited over its potential. Photo: Bristol Myers Squibb


Experts hope the new schizophrenia drug may help patients who do not respond well to existing treatments. Photo: Shutterstock

Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: medical volunteers heal mind and body with pivot to arts

Traditional Chinese medicine practitioner Lam Kar-yeung say EliCare aims to focus on “both physical and mental well-being”. Photo: Kong Yat-pang

Eye doctor in China returns to performing surgeries 4 years after being stabbed by patient

Eye doctor, Tao Yong, who was brutally stabbed by a patient, has made a triumphant return to his surgical practice. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Weibo

The assailant delivered multiple stabs that resulted in severe traumatic injuries to the doctor’s skull, back, left hand, and right arm. Photo: 163.com

Despite the serious injuries, Tao, with determination and resilience, embarked on a challenging journey of rehabilitation and recovery. Photo: 163.com

After facing a life-threatening situation that many thought would end his career, he has resumed surgeries, becoming an inspiration for his colleagues and patients. Photo: 163.com

Are ox gallstones the new gold in Hong Kong? Report finds rising demand for pill ingredient

Ox gallstones attract a high price due to their rarity and fragility, making them difficult to transport. Photo: Soho/钛媒体APP

The gallstones are typically used in “Peaceful Palace Bovine Bezoar” pills. Photo: Soho/当地消息小铃铛

Is laughter the best medicine for dry eye disease? Chinese and UK scientists investigate

A study has found that laughter could be as effective as eye drops for sufferers of dry eye disease. Photo: Shutterstock

In the study, half the participants used eye drops four times a day and half used laughter therapy. Photo: Shutterstock

News

World

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun’s research revealed a new principle of gene regulation essential for multicellular organisms, including humans


Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun’s research revealed a new principle of gene regulation essential for multicellular organisms, including humans.


Nobel Prize

Medicine

Sweden