The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA, a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated.
The Nobel Assembly said that their discovery is “proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function.”
Ambrose performed the research that led to his prize at Harvard University. He is currently a professor of natural science at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Rackham’s research was performed at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School, where he’s a professor of genetics, said Thomas Perlmann, Secretary General of the Nobel Committee.
The prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1.4 million Cdn)
The laureates are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896. The inventor in his will bequeathed much of his fortune to the creation of the prizes which are awarded from Stockholm and Oslo, though economics was a category added later.
Nobel prizes in several fields will be announced for the next week, including:
- Tuesday: Physics.
- Wednesday: Chemistry.
- Thursday: Literature:
- Friday: The Nobel Peace Prize.
- Oct. 7: Economics.