Mass. RNA researchers win Canadian award
Two Massachusetts scientists will pick up another honor today in Toronto for their discovery of tiny RNA segments that can silence genes.
Victor Ambros (left) of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Gary Ruvkun of Harvard Medical School will share one of five 2008 Gairdner International Awards for their work with very short single-stranded RNA molecules. In 1993 they identified microRNAs that controlled the production of proteins involved in the development of worms.
Working with another colleague, David Baulcombe of the University of Cambridge in England, they later expanded their work on microRNAs in worms and plants to other animals, including humans.
On Thursday the three collaborators will also receive a previously announced Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Sciences for their discovery. Like the Franklin Medal, the Gairdner award has often preceded Nobel Prizes for its recipients. The Gairdner awards are sponsored by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
The other Gairdner winners are Nahum Sonenberg of McGill University, Samuel Weiss of University of Calgary, Dr. Harald zur Hausen of the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, and Allan Bernstein of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise in New York.
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White Coat Notes covers the latest from the health care industry, hospitals, doctors offices, labs, insurers, and the corridors of government. Chelsea Conaboy previously covered health care for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Write her at cconaboy@boston.com. Follow her on Twitter: @cconaboy. |
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