One of the many good things about being associated with a research lab in the Boston area is the caliber of speakers that the schools attract. I remember being in absolute awe at my first few seminars in graduate school – I felt like I was sitting through a Mariah Carey concert a few times a week. That’s how the star power of scientists translated to me. After a while, the wattage seemed to dim, and the powerhouse speakers became an everyday occurrence, something I started to take for granted.

Yesterday, I got another jolt of awe and wonder, while sitting at a seminar by Victor Ambros, at Harvard Medical School. Ambros, an MIT-educated professor at UMass Medical School in Worcester, was funny, down to earth, and super charismatic. You would never guess that he is a recent recipient of the Lasker Award, that he discovered microRNAs (miRNAs) and that he will likely win the Nobel prize in the next couple of decades. And to top it all off, I got to have lunch with him after the talk! Alright, it was me and 10 other post-docs and grad students, but I was there, in his presence. I am now, officially, a science groupie.

The seminar and Ambros’ fame are both a result of his discovery of miRNAs, short strands of RNA with extensive secondary structure which regulate gene expression by either leading to the degradation of messenger RNA or to the inhibition of translation. In the course of the seminar, Ambros discussed the role of two well-characterized miRNAs, lin-4 and let-7, in the regulation of C. elegans development. He went on to give an overview of the roles of miRNAs in disease and his personal favorite direction in miRNA research – the presence of miRNA in human serum. There is very little support for this and no demonstration of function, but it was the most exciting part of the talk.

Recently, stable, RNAse resistant miRNAs were found in human serum. This is of particular interest considering the instability of RNA in general. Some hypothesize that the miRNAs in human serum are stabilized by microvesicles of indeterminate origin. Ambros predicts that it may be possible to use these serum miRNAs as markers of human disease and other states. PCR-based assays for the presence of miRNAs are exquisitely sensitive and readily available in diagnostic labs. Some miRNAs have been associated with certain cancers, and one miRNA, called miR-527, is found at significantly higher levels in the serum of pregnant women. A lot has to happen before this is feasible – the levels, origin, and function of these stable serum miRNAs has to be demonstrated before any diagnostics can be considered, but Ambros has made it a point to bring up the possibility in his talks. He encouraged all investigators with human serum sitting around from other trials to take a look, to further investigate serum miRNAs. He even referred to himself as a type of evangelist, traveling the world to spread the word about the possibility and promise of miRNAs. He sold me. Now we just wait and see what solid proof he and others can come up with. The legions of science groupies are sure to increase.