Nobel Prize in Medicine for tiny gene switches

The new Nobel Prize ceremony is approaching and, like every year, the week began with the announcement of the Nobel Prize in Medicine. In this case it was up to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for him microRNA discovery and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.

The announcement took place at just over 11:30 a.m. (Spanish peninsula time) at the Nobel Assembly, held at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. As always, the person responsible for announcing the names of the winners is first in Swedish and the second language. it was in English back then John PearlmanSecretary of the said Assembly.

The winners will share a prize of SEK 9 million, equivalent to approximately 830,000 euros. This is not the largest scientific award, but it is one of the most famous.

Nobel Prize in Medicine for tiny gene switches

These two scientists received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery microRNA. But what exactly?

All our cells have the same genes that behave like instruction book. This means that, for example, the gene for insulin synthesis is found in the cells of the pancreas, where this hormone is produced, as well as in the cells of the eye. In the case of the eye, the gene will remain turned off because it is not necessary.

On the other hand, the pancreas needs this instruction, so it will turn on the gene when needed. That is, when there is a large amount of glucose in the blood and insulin needs to help it penetrate the cells. This turning genes on and off where and when they are needed is known as gene expression. This expression can be adjusted in different ways. And one of them is microRNA.

These are very small RNA molecules whose potential has been discovered Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun in the late 80s, when they were graduate students in the laboratory Robert Horwitzwho also received the Nobel Prize in 2002.

Worms with genes that turn on and off

These two scientists studied mutants K. elegansa worm widely used in research. They already knew what gene expression was, and they also knew that there must be regulators responsible for turning genes on and off. But they didn’t know what they were like. His postdoctoral work focused on obtaining the desired mutants and finding the gene lin-4, who seemed to be involved in shutting down another, lin-14. However, they did not find the key to this. silence until they were already installed in their respective laboratories.

Ambrose at Harvard University discovered that lin-14 produces a very interesting piece of RNA. Was shorter than usual and, moreover, it did not contain any protein synthesis code. But what does this mean?

To understand this we must know how they use genes. We saw that they were similar to our instructions. However, our cells cannot read DNA. In order for them to carry out the various commands that make us who we are and keep us functioning, they need proteins. These proteins are made by organic substances called ribosomes, which can only read RNA. Thus, the DNA of genes is transcribed into RNA molecules known as messenger RNA. Essentially, you translate the message into a language that the ribosomes can understand. And all this happens, of course, when include gene.

Why did they win the Nobel Prize in Medicine?

The RNA that Ambros discovered was amazing because it had no instructions for making any protein. It wasn’t messenger RNA. But what happened then?

Ambros contacted Ruvkun, who at that time was doing the same with Lin-14 in his laboratory in Massachusetts General Hospital. He noticed that the suppression of lin-14 had nothing to do with its messenger RNA, but with some molecule that directly interfered with protein synthesis. When they combined their efforts, they discovered that it was actually this small RNA molecule that turned off the gene. They just discovered microRNA and its role in regulation of gene expression.

Obviously, this was an interesting discovery because it helped us better understand how DNA works in our cells. But also because it provided scientists with a brilliant switch that allowed them to turn genes on and off at will. This discovery has been widely used in research to better understand the functioning of certain genes. But it can also help understand the mechanisms of diseases such as diabetes or cancer. And, in turn, provide information about possible treatment methods. Here are the reasons why Ambros and Ruvkun were worthy Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Award Winning Women

Since it began in 1901, a total of 13 women have received the Nobel Prize in Medicine. First, Gertie Coreyreceived the award in 1947. It took the woman almost half a century to receive the award. Since then there have been many who deserved it, and very few who achieved it.

For this reason, today’s Nobel Prize in Medicine, although more than deserved, once again leaves a bad taste in our mouths of what might have been and what was not. For all the women who deserve it but still don’t get it.