American duo Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery of microRNA and its role in gene regulation.
Understanding the regulation of gene activity has been an important goal for decades, the jury said.
If gene regulation is disrupted, it can lead to serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes or autoimmunity.
"Their groundbreaking discovery has revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that has proven essential for multicellular organisms, including humans," the jury said.
Collaborating but working separately, the two conducted research on the 1-millimeter roundworm C. elegans to determine why and when cell mutations occur.
Their groundbreaking findings - gene regulation that allows each cell to select only appropriate instructions - were published in two papers in 1993.
Ambros, 70, is a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Ruvkun, 72, is a professor at Harvard Medical School.
The pair will receive their prize, consisting of a diploma, a gold medal and a check for $1 million, from King Carl XVI Gustaf at an official ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of scientist Alfred Nobel, who established the prizes in his will.
Last year, the prize for medicine was awarded to Cataline Carrico and Drew Weissman for their work on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, which paved the way for Covid-19 vaccines.
Nobel season continues this week with the announcement of the winners of the Physics Prize on Tuesday and the Chemistry Prize on Wednesday.
These will be followed by the long-awaited literature prizes on Thursday and the peace prize on Friday.
The economics prize will be awarded on Monday 14 October. | BGNES
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