Genetics prize honours pioneering research

Professor Sir David Baulcombe, Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge, is among the three recipients of the 2014 Gruber Genetics Prize.

Victor Ambros, Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts; and Gary Ruvkun, Professor of Genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School join Professor Baulcombe in receiving the award.

The three scientists are being recognised with this international prize for their pioneering discoveries of the existence and function of microRNAs and small interfering RNAs, molecules that are now known to play a critical role in gene expression.

The award will be presented to the recipients in California on 19 October at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics.

“The discoveries of these three pioneering scientists have opened major new areas in chemistry, biology, agriculture and medicine and have revealed fundamental mechanisms that are shared among organisms as diverse as plants and animals, including humans,” said Robert Horvitz, Gruber and Nobel Prize laureate.

The Gruber International Prize Program honours individuals in the fields of Cosmology, Genetics and Neuroscience, whose ground-breaking work provides new models that inspire and enable fundamental shifts in knowledge and culture.

The Selection Advisory Boards choose individuals whose contributions in their respective fields advance our knowledge and potentially have a profound impact on our lives. 

The Genetics Prize is presented to a leading scientist, or up to three, in recognition of ground-breaking contributions to any realm of genetics research.

For more information on the Gruber Prizes, visit www.gruber.yale.edu.