Updating the composition of the student scientific group “Study of molecular biological mechanisms of metabolic regulation with in-depth study of English biochemical terminology”

    The student scientific club “Study of molecular biological mechanisms of metabolic regulation with in-depth study of English biochemical terminology” was replenished with new members. Students of the 8th group of the 2nd year of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine: Olesia Kryvenko, Anna Ivanova, Daria Ageienko, Sofia Gerish, Daria Gyultekin, Sofia Soldak, Oleksandra Mitrukhina, Yana Rumovska, Daria Vinnik, Olga Holodniak, are primarily interested in the educational material, the history of the Department of Biochemistry named after Academician M.F. Gulyi and the research of its scientists.

     The students will not only study published materials of scientific articles in the field of biochemistry with the study of biochemical terminology, publish abstracts of scientific conferences, and possibly participate in scientific webinars to learn about new methods and approaches to the study of the molecular organization of living organisms, but they have also turned their attention to the scientific research of some of the Nobel laureates of 2024.

     The Nobel Prize winners of 2024 are chemists who have long dreamed of fully understanding and mastering the chemical tools of life - proteins. Now this dream has come true. Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper have successfully used artificial intelligence to predict the structure of almost all known proteins. David Baker learned to master the building blocks of life and create completely new proteins. The potential of their discoveries is enormous.

 

    The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2024 was awarded to American scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ravkan for their discovery of microRNAs and the mechanism of gene regulation. The scientists managed to find out the mechanism by which different types of cells choose their own set of genes during reproduction. Thanks to this mechanism, the evolution of complex organisms, including humans, has become possible on Earth. The information stored in our chromosomes can be compared to the instruction manual for all cells in our body. Every cell contains the same chromosomes, so every cell has the same set of genes and the same set of instructions.

    However, different types of cells, such as muscle and nerve cells, have very different characteristics. These differences are explained by the regulation of genes, which allows each cell to select only the necessary instructions. Thus, only the correct set of genes is active in each cell type.Without the ability to control gene expression, every cell in the body would be identical, so microRNAs have made the evolution of complex life forms, including humans, possible. On the other hand, abnormal regulation of microRNAs can contribute to the development of cancer and certain conditions, such as congenital hearing loss and bone disease. It is now known that the human genome encodes more than a thousand microRNAs. As it turned out, microRNAs are fundamental to the development and functioning of organisms (based on BBCNews. Ukraine).

We are pleased to congratulate the new members and wish them success!

Liliia Kalachniuk, head of the group “Study of molecular biological mechanisms of metabolic regulation with in-depth study of English biochemical terminology”, professor of the Department of Biochemistry named after Academician M.F. Hulyi