NEW DELHI: Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun have been awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine 2024 for their work on microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. 

The jury stated that the US duo's "groundbreaking discovery" revealed a "completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans". 

The duo will share a prize of 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million) and receive a diploma and a gold medal from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10. 

"The 2024 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation," the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet announced. 

The discovery by the Nobel Prize recipients is important as understanding the regulation of gene activity has been an important goal for decades for scientists. If gene regulation goes wrong, it can lead to serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, or autoimmunity.

The pair conducted research on a 1 millimetre roundworm, C. elegans, to determine why cell mutations occurred and when.

Ambros, 70, is a professor of natural science at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He conducted the research that earned him the top prize at the Harvard University. 
Meanwhile, Ruvkun, 72, conducted his research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School.

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who in his will dictated that his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
Nobel died in 1895, but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded. 

Akin to every year, the medicine prize is the first in the crop of Nobels, arguably the most prestigious prizes in science, literature and humanitarian endeavour, with the remaining five set to be unveiled over the coming days.
The 2024 Nobel prize in physics will be announced on Tuesday, followed by the Chemistry prize on Wednesday.