Nobel Prize In Medicine Honors 2 Scientists For Their Discovery Of MicroRNA

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two scientists have won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their discovery of microRNA, tiny bits of genetic material that serve as on and off switches inside cells that help control what the cells do and when they do it.

If scientists can better understand how they work and how to manipulate them, it could lead to powerful treatments for diseases like cancer.

A panel that awarded the prize in Stockholm said Monday the work by Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun is “proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function.”

Their discovery ultimately “revealed a new dimension to gene regulation, essential for all complex life forms,” the panel said.

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