Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their work on the discovery of microRNA, a molecule that governs how cells in the body function.

This isn't the first time RNA has been honored recently. The molecule has been something of a scientific darling of late: last year, Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their fundamental discovery that made mRNA-based vaccines possible, a development that transformed the COVID-19 pandemic.

STOCKHOLM -- Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday for their discovery of microRNA, tiny bits of genetic material that serve as on and off switches inside cells that help control what the cells do and when they do it.