STOCKHOLM – Two scientists have won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for his or her discovery of microRNA, tiny pieces of genetic material that function on-and-off switches in cells and help control what the cells do and after they do it.

If scientists higher understand how they work and how one can manipulate them, it could in the future result in effective treatments for diseases like cancer.

The work is by Americans Victor Ambros and Berkeley natives Gary Ruvkun “proves to be of fundamental importance for the development and function of organisms,” said a panel that awarded the prize in Stockholm.

Ambros and Ruvkun were initially considering genes that control the timing of varied genetic developments, ensuring that cell types develop at the correct time.

Their discovery ultimately revealed “a new dimension of gene regulation that is essential for all complex life forms,” the panel said.

What is the Nobel Prize for?

RNA is best known for passing instructions for making proteins from DNA within the cell nucleus to tiny cell factories that truly construct the proteins. MicroRNA doesn't produce proteins, but it surely helps control what cells do, including turning on and off critical genes that make proteins.

Last 12 months's Nobel Prize in Medicine went to scientists who discovered how one can manipulate one in every of all these RNA, called messenger RNA or mRNA, which is now used to make vaccines against COVID-19.

Ambros and Ruvkun's revolutionary discovery was first made on worms; They wanted to search out out why some sorts of cells didn’t evolve in two mutant worm strains commonly utilized in science as a research model.

“Their groundbreaking discovery revealed an entirely new principle of gene regulation that proved essential for multicellular organisms, including humans,” says the citation, explaining the importance of their work.

This mechanism has been at work for a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of years and has enabled the event of complex organisms, it said.

Ambros, currently a professor of natural sciences on the University of Massachusetts Medical School, conducted the research at Harvard University. Ruvkun's research was conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he’s a professor of genetics.

Why is microRNA vital?

Fletcher said there are two principal areas where microRNA might be helpful: in developing drugs to treat diseases and as possible indicators of disease by tracking microRNA levels within the body.

“If we take the example of cancer, we have a particular gene that is working overtime, it could be mutated and working at full speed,” Fletcher said. She said scientists may in the future find a way to make use of microRNA to stop such effects.

Eric Miska, a geneticist on the University of Cambridge, said Ambros and Ruvkun's discovery was an entire surprise and upended what scientists had long understood about how cells work.

Their discovery of microRNA shocked many scientists, Miska said, explaining that such small pieces of genetic material had never been seen before. It later emerged that the tiny RNA fragments – the human genome has no less than 800 – play a vital role in the event of our bodies.

Miska said that work is currently underway on the role of microRNA in infectious diseases comparable to hepatitis and that it may be helpful in treating neurological diseases.

Fletcher said essentially the most advanced studies up to now are examining how microRNA approaches could help treat skin cancer, but no drugs have been approved yet. She predicted this might occur in the approaching years, adding that almost all treatments currently goal cellular proteins.

“If we can intervene at the microRNA level, it opens up a whole new opportunity for us to develop drugs,” she said.

How did Gary Ruvkun and Victor Ambros react?

The call from the Nobel Prize panel is usually a surprise, but there are specific signs that recipients and their families notice.

“Well, when a phone rings at 4:30 in the morning. … That never happens here,” Ruvkun said.

“Natasha actually responded,” Ruvkun added, referring to his wife. “And she says, 'He has a Swedish accent.'”

It took just a little longer to wake Ambros.

“Someone called my son, who called my wife because my phone was downstairs,” he said.

Ruvkun immediately knew the impact the award would have on his life.

“Well, I kept repeating it in my head, this changes everything because the Nobel Prize is just mythical when it comes to how it changes the lives of the people chosen,” Ruvkun said. “The Nobel Prize is a recognition that generates about 100 times as much press and cheers as any other award. So it's not part of a continuum. It’s a quantum leap.”

Accepting his award in December might be the third time he has attended a Nobel ceremony in Stockholm, having watched his mentor Robert Horvitz in 2002 and his 2009 winning pal Jack Szostak.

“A journey is coming. It will be the third, possibly the best,” Ruvkun said.

Ambros said he didn’t expect the award because he believed the Nobel Committee had already highlighted RNA within the 2006 prize, which went to his friends Andrew Fire and Craig Mello.

“It represents a recognition of how wonderful and unexpected discoveries arise from a curiosity in basic research funded by taxpayer dollars.” “It's an extremely important message, probably the most important message, that this investment is really paying off,” he said.

Last 12 months, The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Hungarian-American Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman for discoveries that enabled the event of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, which were crucial to slowing the pandemic.

The price is endowed with a money prize of 11 million Swedish crowns ($1 million) from a bequest from the prize's initiator, the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.

The Nobel announcements proceed with the Physics Prize on Tuesday, the Chemistry Prize on Wednesday and the Literature Prize on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize might be announced on Friday and the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences on October 14th.

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This story has been updated to make clear that microRNA helps regulate gene activity slightly than containing instructions for making proteins.

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Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, Cheng reported from London. Associated Press journalists Steven Senne and Rodrique Ngowi in Newton, Massachusetts, and Adithi Ramakrishnan in New York.

Originally published: October 7, 2024 at 10:24 am

Victor Wembanyama just completed something no other NBA player has ever completed before.

On Tuesday, the tall San Antonio Spurs big man became the primary rookie in league history to be named to the All-Defensive First Team.

Wembanyama joined the primary team, center Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves, big Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat, guard/forward Herb Jones of the New Orleans Pelicans and massive Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers.

The second team consists of Alex Caruso (Guard) of the Chicago Bulls, Jalen Suggs (Guard) of the Orlando Magic, Derrick White (Guard) of the Boston Celtics, Jaden McDaniels (Forward) of the Timberwolves and Jrue Holiday (Guard) of the Celtics.

Gobert led in votes, receiving all 99 votes from the panel of writers and commentators who forged their ballots. Gobert's unanimous selection to the primary team comes as no surprise. Minnesota, where Gobert protects the basket and receives outstanding performances from McDaniels and Anthony Edwards on the perimeter, finished the regular season as the perfect defense within the leaguelimiting opponents to 108.4 points per 100 possessions. Gobert ranked fourth in defensive rebounds per game (9.2) and sixth in blocks per game (2.13).

The 2023-24 Kia ​​NBA All-Defensive First Team:

Bam Adebayo from @Intense heat
Anthony Davis from @Lakers
Rudy Gobert from @Timberwolves
Herb Jones from @PelicansNBA
Victor Wembanyama from @spurs pic.twitter.com/Ye6oB0T5VV

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 21, 2024

Two weeks ago, Gobert received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award for the fourth time – a brand new record.

Wembanyama was voted to the primary team on 86 of the ballots and to the second team on 12 ballots. Although his Spurs finished the season with the Twenty first-best defense within the league, he has already earned a status amongst his peers as a standout defender. In the 2024 Anonymous Player Poll, Wembanyama received essentially the most votes when players were asked to call the perfect defender within the league, being named on 15.2 percent of the ballots. Wembanyama led the league in blocks (3.58 per game) and collected 27.3 percent of all available defensive rebounds.

Adebayo has been the cornerstone of the Heat's fifth-best defense. Regularly praised for his ability to regulate to opposing defenders – no small feat for a stocky 6-foot-1 player – Adebayo offers the flexibility and determination the Heat are known for.

Jones was chosen to the All-Defensive team for the primary time. Tall and lean, 6-foot-4, Jones was a key contributor to the Pelicans' defense, which ranked sixth in defensive efficiency.

Davis ended the season Third within the league in defensive rebounds per game (9.5) And Fourth in blocks per game (2.34).

The 2023-24 Kia ​​NBA All-Defensive Second Team:

Alex Caruso from @ChicagoBulls
Jrue vacation from @Celts
Jaden McDaniels from @Timberwolves
Jalen Suggs from @OrlandoMagic
Derrick White from @Celts pic.twitter.com/IdaekqTeHs

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 21, 2024

This was the primary season wherein the league used “positionless” voting for its All-Defensive and All-NBA teams, and first-season players (most often) needed to play no less than 65 games to be considered for an All-Defensive team.

In previous years, voters selected two guards, two forwards and one center for every of the 2 All-Defensive teams and every of the three All-NBA teams. But that is not any longer the case. Because of the collective bargaining agreement ratified last yr, voters this yr were instructed to decide on the players most deserving of the award, no matter position.

The All-NBA teams might be announced Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.

The NBA named its first All-Defensive teams after the 1968-69 season. Before that yr only five rookies have ever been named to an All-Defensive Team: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969-70 season), Hakeem Olajuwon (1984-85), Manute Bol (1984-85), David Robinson (1989-90) and Tim Duncan (1997-98). But Abdul-Jabbar, Olajuwon, Bol, Robinson and Duncan were chosen to the All-Defensive second team as rookies, not the All-Defensive first team.

What is an important finding?

To be sure that essentially the most deserving players receive recognition, league officials and the players' union moved to a position-free vote.

This yr, Abebayo and Davis benefited from this modification.

Although Adebayo has been considered an elite defender in league circles for several years, he had been on the second team All-Defensive for the previous 4 seasons, often ending behind players like Gobert, Draymond Green, Jaren Jackson Jr., Brook Lopez and Evan Mobley.

This yr, Adebayo made his well-deserved breakthrough into the primary team for the primary time in his profession.

Questions remain in regards to the long-term impact of the move to positionless voting: How should voters judge perimeter defense versus big-man defense? Will big-man defense now dominate All-Defensive First Team voting in most years, and would that be a positive or negative?

Caruso almost definitely would have made the All-Defensive First Team this yr if the league had kept the position-based voting system.

What was the most important surprise?

It's a pleasing surprise that the Timberwolves and Celtics, the 2 teams that allowed essentially the most points per possession, each had two players on the All-Defensive teams. Minnesota had Gobert and McDaniels, while Boston had White and Holiday.

Who was most snubbed?

An example of that is the Oklahoma City Thunder, who finished the regular season with the fourth-best defensive rating within the league and entered the playoffs as the highest seed within the Western Conference, but had no players on their first or second team.

Winger Luguentz Dort narrowly missed being named to the second team. He earned a complete of 34 points in voting, the Eleventh-highest rating. Holiday, the last player to be voted to the second team, earned a complete of 36 points. Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City's rookie center who finished fifth in blocks per game, had the Thirteenth-highest variety of votes.

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