An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2024 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

16061 entries, 14144 authors and 1947 subjects. Updated: December 10, 2024

Permanent Link for Entry #16316

  • 14010

The C. elegans heterochronic gene lin-4 encodes small RNAs with antisense complementarity to lin-14.

Cell, 75, 843-854, 1993.

Ambros and colleagues discovered the first known microRNA (miRNA), a small single-stranded non-coding RNA molecule (containing about 22 nucleotides) found in plants, animals and some viruses, that functions in RNA silencing and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. The human genome may encode over 1900 miRNAs, although more recent analysis suggests that the number is closer to 2,300.

The first human disease associated with deregulation of miRNAs was chronic lymphocytic leukemia. In this disorder, the miRNAs work as both tumor suppressors and oncogenes.

In 2024 Victor Ambros shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Gary Ruvkun for "the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation."

Order of authorship in the original publication: Lee, Feinbaum, Ambros.



Subjects: BIOLOGY › MOLECULAR BIOLOGY › Protein Synthesis, NOBEL PRIZES › Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
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