MICRO FIND WITH MEGA GENE THERAPY POTENTIAL

TWO US scientists, Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, have won the 2024 Nobel prize in medicine for their discovery of microRNA-a new class of tiny ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation, unfolding how multicellular organisms live.

Their work explains how cells develop into different types such as those in muscles and nerves-although all cells in an individual contain the same set of genes and instructions for growth. More specifically, they discovered the role microRNA played in this process.

RNA is essential for most biological functions, setting a template for production of proteins, the building blocks of all animal life.

When a single-strand messenger RNA is decoded and translated into making proteins, microRNA comes into play.