The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the year 2024 has been awarded to scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. MicroRNA is a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated.

Announcing the decision, the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, a research-led medical university in Stockholm stated that the discovery made by these two scientists has proven to be fundamentally important for understanding how organisms develop and function.

The winners will receive a sum of 1.1 million dollars. This year’s award is the 115th Nobel prize to be presented in physiology or medicine since 1901. Of the 229 winners, only 13 have been women.

The 2024 Nobel Prize in physics will be announced tomorrow, followed by the chemistry prize on Wednesday.