The information for making proteins is stored in our DNA. In short, this information is transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA), which is then translated to make the proteins and enzymes we need. The remarkable thing is that although different cell types have the same DNA (and therefore the same genetic information), they make very different proteins and enzymes, specific to the purpose of those cells. Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun found that microRNA was involved.

In 1993, Ambros and Ruvkun published their research on microRNAs. Compared to mRNA, microRNAs are very small pieces of RNA that sit on specific parts of mRNA and inhibit protein synthesis or even cause mRNA to degrade. It was a new but fundamental way of looking at gene regulation. ‘Ambros and Ruvkun’s groundbreaking discovery was unexpected and revealed a new dimension of gene regulation that is essential for all complex life forms’, said the press release on the Nobel Prize website.

See the official announcement below.