At 4:30 p.m. on October 7 (Vietnam time), the Nobel Prize Council at the Karolinska Institute in the capital capital of Sweden Stockholm announced that the 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine went to two American scientists, Victor Ambros (University of Massachusetts Medical School) and Gary Ruvkun ( Massas state General Hospital, Harvard Medical School) for their discovery of microRNA (super small protein) and its role in regulating gene.
Information stored in our chrome can be considered a handbook for all cells in the body. Each cell contains the same chrome, so each cell contains the same set of genes and the same set of instructions.
However, different types of cells, such as muscle cells and nerve cells, have very distinct characteristics. How do these differences arise? The answer lies in the process of regulating cells, allowing each cell to only choose relevant instructions. This ensures that only the exact set of genes work in each cell type.
Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun are interested in how different types of cells grow. They have discovered microRNA, a new, micro- small RNA protein protein that plays an important role in regulating gene regulation.
The two scientists' groundbreaking discovery reveals a completely new principle of gene regulation, which is essential for multi- cell life, including humans.
Genetic information flows from DNA to RNA information (mRNA), through a process called transcription, then to the cell system to produce protein. There, mRNA is translated so that proteins are made according to the genetic instructions stored in DNA. Since the mid-20th century, some of the most fundamental scientific discoveries have explained how these processes work.
Our organs and tissues are made up of many different types of cells, all of which have identical genetic information stored in their DNA. However, these different cells express unique protein sets. How could this happen?
The answer lies in the accurate regulation of gene activity so that only the exact set of genes works in each specific type of cell. This, for example, allows muscle cells, intestinal cells, and different types of nerve cells to perform their specialized functions.
In addition, gene activity must be continuously regulated to adapt cell functions to changing conditions in our bodies and the environment.
If gene regulation is distorted, it can lead to serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes or autoimmunity. Therefore, understanding the regulation of gene activity has been an important goal for decades.
In the 1960s, it was shown that specialized proteins, called trans folding factors, can bind to specific regions in DNA and control the flow of genetic information by determining which mRNAs are produced.
Since then, thousands of transcription factors have been identified and for a long time, people have believed that the main principles of gene regulation have been solved.
However, in 1993, Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun published surprising discoveries describing a new level of gene regulation, which is of great significance and has been preserved throughout evolution.
