2024 Nobel Prize: micro-RNAs

This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun "for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation".

The first identified microRNA, lin-4, was discovered as a heterochronic mutant in C. elegans - a gene whose disruption affects the timing of activation of key genetic programs in development. By demonstrating that the lin-4 microRNA binds to the 3'-UTR of the lin-14 mRNA (lin-14 also being a heterochronic mutant), Ambros and Ruvkun established a paradigm for post-transcriptional gene regulation that was subsequently shown to be highly conserved. Since this ground-breaking work, microRNAs have been found to be key players in many developmental processes across the kingdom of life.

This subject collection features microRNA-related papers published by Victor Ambros (a member of Development's advisory editorial board) and Gary Ruvkun in Development over the years, as well as a selection of Review Articles from other authors that highlight the diverse roles of microRNAs.