Nobel Prize 2024: All Winners

tamiah312 October 7, 2024

4 1 minute read

The 2024 Nobel Prize announcements began on Oct. 7, recognize important contributions to humanity.

The first prize, in the category of physiology or medicine, went to two American scientists for their work in discovering microRNAs. Nobel Prize winners in physics, chemistry, literature, peace, and economics will be announced next week. Winners are awarded a medal, a personalized diploma, and a cash prize of approximately $1.1 million. Founded by Alfred Nobel in 1901, past recipients include Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

Below is a list of all of this year’s winners as they were announced.

Physiology or medicine

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of microRNAs, a class of small molecules important in gene regulation. Their research revealed how these microRNAs influence cellular behavior and contribute to various health challenges, including cancer and heart disease. As the understanding of these micro-regulators increases, so does the potential for new treatments for complex medical conditions.

Read more: What You Should Know About MicroRNA, A Nobel Prize Discovery

Ambros and Ruvkun’s work began in the 1990s when they studied worms, discovering complex relationships between specific genes and the regulatory role of microRNAs. This discovery reveals that microRNAs can bind to messenger RNA, influencing the production of proteins important for cellular function. Their findings, published in Cell in 1993, opened new ways to understand the communication between genes in cells. Thomas Perlmann, secretary general of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, called their work “really important for all of physiology.”