Nobel Prize in Medicine 2024: Discovery of microRNA

Syllabus:GS3/Science and Technology

Context

• The Nobel Prize for Medicine 2024, has been awarded to scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA.

What is MicroRNA?

• MicroRNA are molecules that help cells control their protein production.
  • Different cells in the body create different proteins, depending on their specific functions. 
• The differentiation among cells is governed by gene regulation, which effectively turns on or off specific genes in a cell in order to allow it to carry its specific task. 

Proteins formation 

• The body makes proteins in a complex process with two broad steps. 

• In the transcription step, a cell copies a DNA sequence into messenger RNA (mRNA) in the nucleus. The mRNA moves from the nucleus, through the cell fluid, and attaches itself to the ribosome. 
• In the translation step, another type of RNA called transfer RNA (tRNA) brings specific amino acids to the ribosome, where they are linked together in the order specified by the mRNA to make the protein.
• Micro RNA, or miRNA, regulates the production of proteins by bonding with and subsequently silencing the mRNA at an appropriate juncture. The process is called post-transcriptional gene regulation.

Significance of the study

• The discovery revealed a new dimension to gene regulation where MicroRNAs are fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function.
• A single microRNA can regulate the expression of many different genes and similarly a single gene can be regulated by multiple microRNAs.
  • Hence microRNA coordinating and fine-tuning entire networks of genes. 
• The cells and tissues do not develop normally without microRNAs. Abnormal regulation by microRNA can contribute to cancer. 
• Mutations in genes coding for microRNAs have been found in humans, causing conditions such as congenital hearing loss, eye and skeletal disorders. 

Source: TH