UPSC Prelims 2007 · General Studies
Question 22: Science and Technology
What is the broad area in which the Nobel Prize winners for the year 2006 in Physiology or Medicine worked to get the prize?
AnswerThe answer is (b).
The 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Andrew Fire and Craig Mello for the discovery of RNA interference, in which double-stranded RNA switches off specific genes. It concerns how genetic information flows from DNA through RNA to protein, and how that flow is controlled. It is not about ageing, immunity or adult stem cells.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Not their area; they did not work on ageing.
- (b) Correct: RNA interference is about regulating the flow of genetic information.
- (c) Immunology was not the focus of the 2006 prize.
- (d) Adult stem-cell research was not the basis of the prize.
Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2007, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.