Victor Ambros (L) and Gary Ruvkun (R) were awarded the prize for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Photo; X/@NobelPrize

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology 2024, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Monday (October 7, 2024).

They were awarded the prestigious prize for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.

Last year the Nobel Prize for Physiology was jointly awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their “discoveries concerning nucleoside base modification that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”,

Also read: The Nobel Prize 2024 — an interactive guide

The Prize for Physiology or Medicine kicks off a week of Nobel Prize announcements. The winners for Physics will be announced on October 8, followed by Chemistry on October 9. The winners of the Literature, Peace and Economic Sciences Prize will be declared on October 10, October 11, and October 14 respectively.

The prizes carry a cash award of 10 million Swedish kronor (nearly $900,000) and will be awarded on December 10.

Also Read:2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology: What are mRNA vaccines and how do they work? | Explained

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who in his will dictated that his estate should be used to fund “prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”.

The Nobel Prizes for 2023 in Medicine or Physiology has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman

This year’s Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been jointly awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their “discoveries concerning nucleoside base modification that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”, The Royal Swedish Academy of Science announced on October 2, 2023.

Through their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, the laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times, the press release said.

Last year the Nobel Prize for Physiology was awarded to Swedish scientist Svante Pääbo “for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution.” Dr. Pääbo’s pioneering work in an entirely new discipline—paleogenomics—has helped the scientific community understand human evolution and migration at a deeper level.

Thanks to his groundbreaking research, we now have a genome sequence of our closest hominin relatives—the Neanderthals. Dr. Pääbo and his group has also analysed several additional genome sequence from extinct hominins.

The Prize for Physiology or Medicine kicks off a week of Nobel Prize announcements. The winners for Physics will be announced on October 3, followed by Chemistry on October 4. The winners of the Literature, Peace and Economic Sciences Prize will be declared on October 5, October 6 and October 9 respectively.

The prizes carry a cash award of 10 million Swedish kronor (nearly $900,000) and will be awarded on December 10. The money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895.