RNA Canada ARN is so thrilled to congratulate Drs. Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun on winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, “for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation”! Their studies, using the tiny worm, C. elegans, highlight the serendipity of science and the importance of discovery-based or “basic” research. While trying to understand the developmental timing of worms, they stumbled upon tiny RNAs, microRNAs, that regulate the expression of protein coding genes. This resulted in a paradigm shift in our understanding of gene regulation, and opened an entire new field of study that has, in recent years, led to the development of novel small RNA-based therapeutics.
Dr. Victor Ambros was in attendance last week at RNA Canada ARN 2024. He gave a fantastic scientific presentation in the Regulatory RNAs: Markers, Targets, Structure and Function session entitled “MicroRNA-mediated gene regulation and developmental robustness”.
Dr. Ambros also highlighted RNA Canada ARN during an interview with the Nobel committee:
“… I just got back from a meeting in Ottawa, which is a meeting of the Riboclub and had over 500 people there, and they celebrated formation of RNA Canada which is a nationwide network of scientists and others promoting research around RNA for health, agriculture, climate change and so forth; we all know that RNA is fascinating and incredibly versatile and it was the whole meeting was kind of like a celebration of RNA, especially when I went to the posters; there was a poster session with young people doing (an) incredibly diverse amount of.. kinds of work…”
You can listen to the entire interview here!
This exciting celebration of RNA research was also highlighted in a recent interview by The Globe and Mail with RNA Canada ARN Executive Committee member and Secretary Dr. Julie Claycomb (University of Toronto), who also studies miRNAs in nematodes, and who explained their function this way: “they are sort of like volume controls on gene expression. They can really turn down the volume on gene expression or they can turn it off all the way.”
Dr. Claycomb’s interview can be accessed here!
Congratulations Dr. Ambros and Dr. Ruvkun!