Recognized with the 2024 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, Ambros and Ruvkun had identified a new kind of genetic material that transformed how researchers understood gene regulation.
Like DNA, RNA is a form of genetic material made from individual nucleotides linked into chains. According to the central dogma, genetic information flows in one direction: DNA is transcribed into RNA, and RNA is translated into proteins. But in one major deviation from the central dogma, some RNAs are never translated or coded into proteins.
MicroRNA is one type of these so-called noncoding RNAs. They’re short stretches of genetic material that, rather than coding for a specific protein themselves, control the RNAs that do code for proteins. In effect, microRNAs turn particular genes on and off.
I dedicated my scientific career to understanding how RNA works, in part because research on RNA has lagged behind other macromolecules like DNA and proteins. The Nobel Prize recognition of microRNA molecules marks both their importance in biology and their promise as potential treatments for various diseases, including cancer.
Recognized with the 2024 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, Ambros and Ruvkun had identified a new kind of genetic material that transformed how researchers understood gene regulation.
Like DNA, RNA is a form of genetic material made from individual nucleotides linked into chains. According to the central dogma, genetic information flows in one direction: DNA is transcribed into RNA, and RNA is translated into proteins. But in one major deviation from the central dogma, some RNAs are never translated or coded into proteins.
MicroRNA is one type of these so-called noncoding RNAs. They’re short stretches of genetic material that, rather than coding for a specific protein themselves, control the RNAs that do code for proteins. In effect, microRNAs turn particular genes on and off.
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