A Reward For a New Insight On Gene Function

The 'mantra' of Molecular Biology is 'DNA to RNA to protein'. This specifies that the coding for all the proteins an organism will need, are contained in a strand of its DNA. The protein-specifying gene, is converted into a molecule of messenger RNA (mRNA). Each mRNA is then 'read' by a ribosome, producing the right sequence of amino acids to generate each protein. In multicellular organisms, different types of cells specialise, however, in varied proteins. The cells have identical DNA. So, how do the different tissues choose the 'right' proteins? Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun have now shared the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physiology for elucidating this process. They studied the free-living, transparent roundworm, Caenorhabditis elegans. Ambros and Ruvkun found that small molecules of RNA, they called 'micro RNA', bound to mRNA sequences. The micro RNA could prevent the 'instructions' for the corresponding protein being 'read' by the ribosomes. They can also break down mRNAs that are surplus to the cell's requirements. Although this was initially thought to be a 'quirk' of protein production in C. elegans, active micro RNAs have subsequently been found in other organisms including humans (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/oct/07/nobel-prize-in-medicine-awarded-to-scientists-for-work-on-microrna-victor-ambros-gary-ruvkun). This is another example of basic animal research generating knowledge that turns out to have relevance to medicine!