The Daily Populous Monday October 7th, 2024 evening edition
Authored by bbc.co.uk and submitted by ConsciousStop

Every cell in the human body contains the same raw genetic information, locked in our DNA.

However, despite starting with the identical genetic information, the cells of the human body are wildly different in form and function.

The electrical impulses of nerve cells are distinct from the rhythmic beating of heart cells. The metabolic powerhouse that is a liver cell is distinct to a kidney cell, which filters urea out of the blood. The light-sensing abilities of cells in the retina are different in skillset to white blood cells that produce antibodies to fight infection.

So much variety can arise from the same starting material because of gene expression.

The US scientists were the first to discover microRNAs and how they exerted control on how genes are expressed differently in different tissues.

The medicine and physiology prize winners are selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden's Karolinska Institute.

They said: “Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans.

"It is now known that the human genome codes for over 1,000 microRNAs.”

TheNextBattalion on October 7th, 2024 at 12:06 UTC »

Wow! TIL about microRNA

obese_disease on October 7th, 2024 at 11:02 UTC »

Congratulations to them on winning the Nobel Prize in Medicine! It's an extraordinary achievements to see your work make history in the fight against diseases and improve the quality of people's lives.