US scientist Craig Mello has won the Nobel prize for medicine, along with Andrew Fire, for genetic research. [File photo]
Last Update: Monday, October 2, 2006. 9:00pm (AEST)

Nobel medicine prize awarded to US gene researchers

American scientists Andrew Fire and Craig Mello have won the 2006 Nobel prize for medicine for discovering how to control the flow of genetic information in a cell.

They carried out experiments to find a mechanism that effectively stops faulty genes from functioning, creating the possibility of creating new drugs to control such genes and combat diseases.

The Nobel Assembly of Stockholm's Karolinska Institute, announcing the winners of the 10 million Swedish kronor ($A1.8 million) prize, says the scientists' findings open up exciting possibilities for use in gene technology.

Dr Fire, from of the Stanford University School of Medicine, and Dr Mello, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, used experiments with nematode worms to find a mechanism, called RNA interference, that "silences" a gene, effectively turning it off.

Many diseases develop when genes do not work properly, so RNA interference offers tremendous potential to create a new generation of selective drugs against harmful genes.

The Karolinska Institute says RNA interference occurs in plants, animals and humans.

"It is of great importance for the regulation of gene expression, participates in defence against viral infections and keeps jumping genes under control," it said.

It says the mechanism is already being widely used in basic science to study the function of genes and may lead to new therapies in the future.

Last year the prize went to Australians Barry J Marshall and J Robin Warren for their pioneering research on stomach ulcers, overturning conventional wisdom to prove they are caused by bacteria and not spicy food or stress, and best treated with antibiotics.

The Nobel prizes, founded by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, were first awarded in 1901.

The formal awarding of the prizes will take place in Stockholm on December 10.

The Medicine Prize kicks off the coveted Nobel awards.

The Physics prize will be announced on Tuesday and Chemistry on Wednesday.

The Economics prize, awarded by Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, is scheduled for October 9.

The Literature prize is traditionally awarded on a Thursday, though the actual date is only announced 48 hours in advance.

It is expected to be announced on either October 5 or October 12.

The announcement of the Peace Prize will wrap up the Nobel season on October 13.

- Reuters/AFP