Two American scientists -- Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun -- won the #Nobel #Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday for their discovery of #microRNA, 🔸tiny bits of genetic material that serve as on and off switches inside cells 🔸that help control what the cells do and when they do it.
According to a panel that awarded the prize, the work is “proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function”
Ambros and Ruvkun were initially interested in genes that control the timing of different genetic developments, ensuring that cell types develop at the right time.
Their discovery ultimately “revealed a new dimension to gene regulation, essential for all complex life forms
If scientists can better understand how microDNA works and how to manipulate it, it could one day lead to powerful treatments for diseases like cancer.
https://apnews.com/article/nobel-medicine-dc84622d7a15317bc83e873d3f9a2dbf