MicroRNA Discovery and C. elegans Model

• Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered microRNAs and their role in gene expression using the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans.

• C. elegans provides a versatile model for biological investigations, revealing general principles applicable in other organisms.

• Sydney Brenner’s 2002 Nobel Prize for medicine was shared with H. Robert Horvitz and John Sulston for their discoveries on genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death.

• C. elegans genome sequencing began in 1990, demonstrating the Human Genome Project.

• Gene Silencing, Glowing Worms, and MicroRNA Prizes:

• Andrew Fire and Craig Mello discovered double-stranded RNA could destroy cellular RNA, a catalyst for RNA interference.

• Green fluorescent protein (GFP) revolutionized tracking biological processes and gene products in living cells.

• Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun won a Nobel Prize in 2024 for their discovery of miRNAs binding cellular RNAs to reduce protein expression