Gary Ruvkun facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gary Ruvkun
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Ruvkun in 2024
|
|
| Born | March 26, 1952 Berkeley, California, U.S.
|
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley (BA) Harvard University (PhD) |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley Harvard University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts General Hospital |
| Thesis | The molecular genetic analysis of symbiotic nitrogen fixation (NIF) genes from rhizobium meliloti (1982) |
| Doctoral advisor | Frederick Ausubel |
Gary Bruce Ruvkun (born March 26, 1952) is an American molecular biologist. He works at Massachusetts General Hospital and teaches genetics at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
Ruvkun is famous for his discoveries about tiny molecules called microRNAs (miRNAs). These small RNAs help control how genes work. He found out how the first microRNA, called lin-4, works. He also discovered a second important microRNA, let-7. He showed that let-7 is found in many animals, including humans.
His work helped scientists understand a whole new way that genes are regulated. He also made important discoveries about how insulin affects aging and metabolism in living things.
In 2019, he became a member of the American Philosophical Society. Gary Ruvkun won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He shared this award for finding microRNA and its role in controlling genes.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Gary Ruvkun was born on March 26, 1952. His parents were Samuel and Dora Ruvkun.
He earned his first degree, a Bachelor of Arts (BA), in biophysics in 1973. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley. Later, he received his PhD in biophysics from Harvard University in 1982.
For his PhD, he worked with Frederick M. Ausubel. He studied genes that help bacteria fix nitrogen. After his PhD, he did more research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard.
Key Discoveries in Biology
Gary Ruvkun's research has changed how we understand genes. He focused on tiny molecules that control how cells work.
Understanding lin-4 microRNA
Ruvkun's work helped explain how a small RNA called lin-4 works. This RNA is only 22 letters long. It was first found by Victor Ambros's lab in 1992.
Ruvkun showed that lin-4 controls a target gene called lin-14. It does this by matching up with parts of the lin-14 message. This matching stops the cell from making too much LIN-14 protein.
In 1993, Ruvkun published his findings in the journal Cell. In the same issue, Victor Ambros described lin-4 as a very small RNA. These discoveries showed a new way that genes are controlled by tiny RNAs. This was the first time scientists understood how microRNAs work.
Discovering let-7 microRNA
In 2000, Ruvkun's lab found a second microRNA in a tiny worm called C. elegans. They named it let-7.
Like lin-4, let-7 also controls a target gene by matching up with its message. This showed that microRNA control might be very common.
Later that year, Ruvkun's team made another big discovery. They found that let-7 is not just in worms. Its sequence and how it works are the same in many animals, including humans. This proved that microRNAs are important for life across the animal kingdom.
MicroRNAs and Small Interfering RNAs (siRNAs)
In 1999, scientists found similar small RNAs in plants called siRNAs. This made scientists wonder if miRNAs and siRNAs worked in similar ways.
Ruvkun's lab worked with another lab to find out. They showed that some key proteins, like Dicer, are used by both miRNAs and siRNAs. In 2003, Ruvkun's lab found many more miRNAs. They also found new proteins that help miRNAs do their job.
C. elegans Metabolism and Longevity
Ruvkun's lab also found that a pathway similar to insulin signaling controls how C. elegans worms age and use energy.
Other scientists had shown that certain gene changes could make C. elegans live longer. Ruvkun's lab found that these genes are part of an insulin-like pathway. This pathway controls a gene called daf-16.
Similar genes are now linked to human aging and diabetes. Ruvkun's lab uses special tools to find genes that affect aging and metabolism. Many of these genes are found in many animals. They could help in developing new medicines for diseases like diabetes.
The Search for Extraterrestrial Genomes (SETG)
Gary Ruvkun's lab is also working on a very exciting project. It's called the Search for Extraterrestrial Genomes, or SETG.
They are building small tools that can find and read DNA and RNA on other planets. The goal is to search for life that might be related to life on Earth. This tool could be sent to Mars or other planets. It would send DNA information back to Earth for scientists to study.
How Animals Fight Infections
In 2012, Ruvkun made an important discovery in immunology. He found a clever way that animals' bodies fight off germs.
He showed that animals watch for problems in their own cells. Germs often try to damage these cell functions. By noticing these problems, the animal's body can tell if it's infected.
Life Beyond Earth
In 2019, Ruvkun and his colleagues suggested something fascinating. They argued that complex microbial life appeared quickly on Earth. They also noted that many exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) have been found. These ideas suggest that DNA-based life might have spread across our galaxy.
The SETG project hopes that NASA will send a DNA sequencer to Mars. They want to find evidence that life might not have started only on Earth. It could have begun somewhere else in the universe and spread. This idea is called Panspermia.
Awards and Recognition
Gary Ruvkun has published around 150 scientific articles. He has received many awards for his work in medical science. These awards recognize his discoveries in aging and microRNAs.
He has won the Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research. He also received the Gairdner Foundation International Award. The Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science is another honor he has received. In 2008, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Awards
- 2004 Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Medical Research (with Craig Mello, Andrew Fire and Victor Ambros)
- 2008 Warren Triennial Prize, Massachusetts General Hospital (with Victor Ambros)
- 2008 Gairdner Foundation International Award (with Victor Ambros)
- 2008 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science (with Victor Ambros and David Baulcombe)
- 2008 Lasker Foundation Award for Basic Medical Research (with Victor Ambros and David Baulcombe)
- 2008 Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
- 2009 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, Columbia University (with Victor Ambros)
- 2009 American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2009 Massry Prize from the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (with Victor Ambros)
- 2009 Institute of Medicine
- 2011 The International Dan David Prize, awarded by Tel Aviv University, Israel (with Cynthia Kenyon)
- 2012 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research (with Victor Ambros)
- 2014 Wolf Prize for Medicine (with Victor Ambros)
- 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (with C. David Allis, Victor Ambros, Alim Louis Benabid, Jennifer A. Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier)
- 2016 March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology (with Victor Ambros)
- 2023 Highly Ranked Scholar by ScholarGPS
- 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (with Victor Ambros)
See also
In Spanish: Gary Ruvkun para niños
- List of Jewish Nobel laureates
