Gary Ruvkun, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and a researcher at Mass General, received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday, October 7 for his contribution to the discovery of microRNA. Gary Ruvkun was awarded medicine for microRNA.
Victor Ambros, formerly of Harvard and currently a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Ruvkun’s longtime collaborator, shared the award.
Ruvkun graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in 1973. He was born in Berkeley, California, in 1952. After earning his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1982, he joined Mass General and the Medical School as a principal investigator in 1985.
When Ruvkun and Ambros began working together on studies of the role that two genes, lin-4 and lin-14, play in regulating abnormal development in the roundworm C. elegans, they were Harvard colleagues.
Ambros cloned the lin-4 gene of C. elegans and discovered that unlike the majority of other genes, it did not encode for a protein in his 1993 Harvard research. Instead, it encoded a very small, 22-base-long RNA strand.
Later, Ruvkun found a tiny RNA string that could bind to lin-14’s messenger RNA, which is a large molecule that transports genetic information from the gene to the ribosome of the cell, where it is translated into protein. The microRNA impacted development and gene expression by disrupting this process.
Seven years later, Ruvkun’s lab discovered let-7, a second microRNA that also inhibits the expression of its target gene, altering development once more.
However, the subsequent discovery of let-7 in a variety of living things, including humans, worms, and fish, demonstrated that its function is so fundamental that it has survived millions of years of evolution.
The significance of microRNAs in development regulation was sparked by this discovery. More than 1,000 human microRNA genes have been discovered today. These genes are involved in both normal and abnormal development, as well as various diseases like heart disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Alan Garber Now Holds The Title As President Of Harvard University
On Monday October 7, the call informing Ruvkun of the prize arrived.
Ruvkun thanked Mass General for supporting his and other microbiologists’ work during the news conference. He asserted that his research has not come to an end even after 40 years. There are about 20,000 genes in C. elegans. He is unaware of thousands of them.
In the meantime, Alan M. Garber, president of Harvard, wished the new Nobel laureates well and praised their groundbreaking research.
He stated,
“Nobody who knows Gary or his work could be surprised by this recognition for his research on microRNA. A brilliant investigator, his curiosity has led him to one remarkable insight into fundamental biology after another. The implications of discoveries like Gary’s and Victor’s aren’t always obvious at the outset. With promising medical applications of microRNA research on the horizon, we are reminded — again — that basic research can lead to dramatic progress in addressing human diseases.”
Like Garber, speakers at the news conference praised Ruvkun’s accomplishment and said that his work shows the power of basic science.
David Brown, who is also the Mass General Trustees Professor of Emergency Medicine at HMS and the president of academic medical centers for Mass General Brigham, stated,
“We celebrate with the entire world your incredible achievements — we celebrate the power of science, the power of brilliant minds.”
“I’m delighted to welcome you as Nobel laureate, Dr. Gary Ruvkun—and that has a nice ring to it. Dr. Ruvkun and his colleagues have advanced our understanding of life on this planet by pushing the boundaries of science”.
He was also praised by the Medical School’s Dean George Q. Daley.
He stated,
“The revelation of microRNA regulation is absolutely a shining example of how curiosity driven research can be turned into actionable knowledge that will advance human health for the betterment of humanity,” he said.
