The winners of the competition were announced in Stockholm. Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology 2024. They are two Americans. Victor Ambrose e Gary Rovcon. He got his recognition for his discovery MicroRNA.
The term seems to say little, but we are increasingly realizing the importance of these elements. In the future, microRNAs may help us. Treatment and prevention of various pathologiesFrom tumor to diabetes.
But what are microRNAs? These are small nucleotide polymers that Inhibiting the products of mutated genes. For this reason they can be a target for treatment, considering that carcinogens (think tumors) can act on them, neutralizing them. And therefore in favor of tumor growth.
What happens in cells?
Let’s try to travel in the world of ultrasmall. And we try to explore how the studies of Ambrose and Ruikin are so important, that they received the Nobel Prize thirty years after their first observation. To understand, you need to study how messages are transmitted. Cells so that they reproduce correctly Protein which are needed. Each specific cell thus has specific signals to perform specific functions. Because lung cells continue to replicate and function properly when we are healthy, so do intestinal cells.
As the site explains. nobelprize.org, This year’s Nobel Prize focuses on the discovery of an important regulatory mechanism used in cells to control gene activity. Genetic information flows. DNA given. to messenger RNA (mRNA), through a process called transcription, and then to the cellular machinery Protein. There, mRNAs are translated to make proteins according to the genetic instructions stored in DNA. But there must be a precise regulation for each cell. And Gene activity Cellular functions must be constantly fine-tuned to adapt to changing conditions in our body and environment. If gene regulation goes wrong.such as can cause serious diseases. Cancer, diabetes or whatever. Therefore, understanding the regulation of gene activity has been an important goal for decades.
What does Nobel Search change?
In the 1960s, it was shown that special proteins, known as transcription factors, can bind to specific regions of DNA and control the flow of genetic information by determining Which mRNAs are produced? They have since been identified. Thousands of replication factors And for a long time it was thought that the fundamentals of gene regulation had been solved. And it is at this point that observations on microRNAs appear: two scholars have identified New regulatory mechanismsfundamental to well-being. Thanks for these tools Each cell is able to “select” only important instructions, Activating the relevant gene case by case.
Victor Ambrose and Gary Rovkon discovered a microRNA. A new class of small RNA molecules which play an important role in gene regulation. Their groundbreaking discovery revealed an entirely new principle of gene regulation that has proven essential to multicellular organisms, including humans. Now, after initial skepticism, it is known that the human genome encodes over a thousand microRNAs. His shocking revelation A whole new dimension of gene regulation. MicroRNAs are proving to be fundamentally important in how organisms develop and function.
Guardian angels of cells
In the collective imagination, the Guardian Angel watches over us, follows us and protects us. Human cells are also present in the ultra-small world. True biological guardian angels. And these are precisely microRNAs. They are the ones that, if we are exposed to carcinogens like cigarette smoke, block and neutralize the mutated gene products capable of inducing tumor growth.
This year’s Nobel Prize honors two scientists for discovering a fundamental principle that governs how gene activity is regulated. It all starts with studies on Caenorhabditis elegans, a tiny 1 mm long worm, which contains specialized cells, for example nerve and muscle cells. Then, after initial skepticism, at the beginning of this millennium Ruvkun’s research group published the discovery of another microRNA, encoded by the let-7 gene. Then science took off and today we know more than a thousand genes for different microRNAs in humans.
Today we know that, for example, for lung cancer in smokers (but this is not the only application of the research) microRNAs can become real tailor-made drugs. Carcinogens, such as smoking, cause severe damage to DNA and genes that control cancer growth after only 1 month of exposure. Because of this, the development of the disease will be very fast. But nature has endowed our body. Powerful guardian angels of our DNA and our healthmicroRNA exactly. These small nucleotide polymers block the products of mutated genes that cause cancer to develop by neutralizing them. This is why we focus on one. Research began on a small insect.and is destined to bring great results to mankind.
