Harvard professor Gary Ruvkun (Berkeley, United States, 1952) is part of the select group of scientists who have won a Nobel Prize thanks to a worm. Specifically, the one known as Caenorhabditis elegans, a tiny organism that was already noticed by the South African who revolutionized biology in the 20th century, Sydney Brenner. This researcher, who chose the little creature because it was simple and fit under a microscope, even thanked the worm for the Nobel Prize in Medicine he received in 2002.
During his recent visit to Valencia as a judge for the Rei Jaume I Awards, the American molecular biologist jokes about how much he owes to Brenner. "It was he who made the right choice in selecting that worm. We only received the dividend from that decision," he also states about his colleague Victor Ambros, with whom he shares the 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery of a new genetic control mechanism with microRNAs. Because, as highlighted by the Nobel Foundation, what was thought to be something specific to a simple worm turned out to be key in humans: microRNAs can block genes in DNA.
Is life better with a Nobel Prize?
Sure, it gives you a lot of notoriety. I was at a moment of receiving many awards, but one never knows if they will be awarded the Nobel. There are also examples, not many, of inappropriate behavior from people who have won the Nobel. I hope that is not my case.
When were you happier? When you were notified of the Nobel or at the eureka moment of the discovery?
The Nobel changes everything. It's like being awarded the Coca-Cola prize. The discovery we made surprised us in 1993, but it didn't catapult us to another level in our careers. At that time, it was seen as something unusual about worms, and I didn't think it was a Nobel-worthy discovery or something revolutionary. We thought we had good material for a talk.
Why do you think the recognition took three decades to arrive?
Regardless of the discovery, the Nobel always takes about 20 years to come. In our case, it took another 10 years because the presence of microRNAs in humans was actually published in the year 2000. Moving from an initial discovery to realizing it is more widespread usually takes between five and ten years.
To what extent is an organism like a worm related to a human being?
Animals, essentially, have a human homolog. So, the genes of worms are present in humans. The presence of microRNAs in worms is relevant because their discovery is easier and cheaper. Doing science at a low cost means being able to do science more easily. In that aspect, we have been efficient. The C. elegans worm is a very simple organism. At least simple enough to describe each of its 959 cells. Working with human genes is difficult and expensive, as there is a lot of genetic variation. In any case, Victor and I were not visionaries. People laugh at us when we say we are going to a worm meeting: "Do they pay you for that? Seriously?"
You have said that genetics is more powerful than geneticists believed. Why?
Geneticists have not been able to sell well what genetics is. Genetic systems were not an engineering feat but a natural evolution. We have 100,000 genomic processes to respond to all kinds of challenges: a bacterial infection, a suicidal idea, the cold... When there is a mutation that suddenly is better against a virus, it should not surprise us. Viruses have been trying to harm us for thousands and thousands of years, and we have been able to respond.
You research aging. How long do you think human life can be extended?
Worms normally die within a month, but we have been able to cultivate worms that have lived up to three months. This is a lot because in a human being, it would mean extending life to 250 years. What happens with the worms? We discovered that it had to do with insulin receptors. However, we will never be able to triple human life expectancy as in a worm. The worms that lived longer did so in a hibernation state, as if they were a spore.
You are also obsessed with the search for life on other planets. Do you believe that humans are not alone in the universe?
People and bacteria have the ribosomal RNA gene, and it has not changed much in 4 billion years. Norman Pace used PCR to extract ribosomal RNA from feces and mud, and when I saw that as a postdoctoral researcher, I thought the same had to be done on Mars. That is, looking for the best-preserved gene from Earth on Mars. I think that is how we can search for life on Mars because it is actually how life is searched for on Earth. It is a limited way of understanding life, but we cannot say that Earth's life will be what we find elsewhere if it exists. Most scientists do not think this way; they believe that what happened here happened here and has nothing to do with what may have happened on Mars or in another galaxy. I believe everyone is wrong, and that life came here from another planet. I'm not saying we will find humans on other planets, but bacteria. It's worth a try.
What do you think of Elon Musk's dream of colonizing Mars?
The truth is, I tried to get him interested in my idea thinking I might get lucky because he's a billionaire. Colonizing Mars as a way to escape the end of the world is the dumbest thing I've heard. Musk would make money by sending corpses to Mars. Mummified humans to bury. Burying in a cemetery costs a lot of money when you can send millions of corpses to Mars and make a fortune. They don't need to be fed or need oxygen. It would definitely work, not the nonsense of living in a synthetic community created on Mars. I would spend an afternoon on Mars, but not a decade.
Is it true that your passion for science comes from when you got hooked as a child on the U.S. space program to go to the Moon?
The space race taught science to all the children of my generation. TVs organized scientific talks about how a rocket worked, what the Moon was... The goal was to scare the Russians, not to inspire the kids, but that's what was achieved. Behind the success of Silicon Valley is the U.S. space race.
Why do so many people now distrust scientists?
Social media brings out the worst in us. Russia has survived by manipulating democratic processes. The Russians influenced Brexit, the election of Donald Trump... Russia produces nothing else.