V. Narry Kim

Dicer recognizes the 5’ end of RNA for efficient and accurate processing. Nature 475:201-205.

In 2013, Kim, along with Professor Jin-Soo KIM of the SNU Department of Chemistry developed a new technology to eliminate specific microRNAs. This new technology has the promise of being potentially used to cure cancer and other illnesses in the future. In the research, TALENs (enzymes) were used to separate certain microRNA from a cell. TALENs had been used to create protein before, but this was the first time they have been used to separate microRNA. The team developed 540 different TALENs for this specific purpose. When this was applied to cancer cells, the proliferation rate of cancer cells dropped to one third of what it was. This discovery was published in the November 11, 2013 edition of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.

In 2008, she became an associate professor, then a SNU Distinguished Fellow in 2010, and a full professor in 2013. Located in Seoul National University, she began working with the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in 2012 as the founding director of the Center for RNA Research. her lab focuses on RNA-mediated gene regulation research, specifically investigating post-transcriptional gene regulation mediated by microRNAs (miRNAs). The lab employs biochemistry, molecular biology, genetic, biophysical, and computational approaches. Research is focused on miRNAs, which are small non-coding RNAs involved in practically all working aspects of eukaryotic cells. Tight control of miRNA is vital to normal functioning cells. If dysregulated, miRNAs can often be linked to human diseases such as cancer. By focusing on the miRNA biogenesis, Dr. Kim's lab has made major contributions to the understanding of miRNAs are created and processed in animal cells. These studies can potentially open the doors to new forms of cancer treatment and stem cell engineering.

Kim received L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science (2008), Ho-Am Prize in Medicine (2009) and The Korea S&T Award (2013). She is an active member of the RNA Society and the International Society of Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). In addition she has been recognized as one of the top Asian scientists to watch by Asian Scientist and among the "science stars of East Asia" by Nature. She was a Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher in the field of molecular biology and genetics in 2014.

Kim's first paper as PI was published in 2002 in the EMBO Journal. In this highly cited work, she defined two separate processing steps (primary microRNA (pri-miRNA) processing in the nucleus and pre-miRNA processing in the cytoplasm), and proposed a model of the microRNA biogenesis pathway for the first time. Based on this model, her research group discovered that most microRNA genes are transcribed by RNA polymerase II and that pri-miRNA processing is carried out by Drosha-DGCR8 complexes in the nucleus.

Her academic journey then took her to the United States, where she took a position at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia as a research assistant. After completing her postdoctoral research on mRNA surveillance in the laboratory of Gideon Dreyfuss, Kim finished her postdoctoral studies and returned to Korea in 2001. She then started working at Seoul National University as a research assistant professor. By the age of 35, Kim already had twenty-two of her papers published in well known and prestigious scientific publications, such as Science and Nature. In addition, Kim “holds four patents based on her research activities, including one on a novel HIV-based gene delivery vector.”

Kim went on to pursue a BA degree in microbiology, then followed by a M.Sc. degree in microbiology in 1992 and 1994, respectively, both from Seoul National University (SNU). After completing her masters under adviser Kang Sa-Ouk, Kim went to the United Kingdom to further her studies at the University of Oxford, studying the functions of retroviral proteins under Alan J. Kingsman. She graduated with a PhD in biochemistry in 1998.

Kim was born in South Korea in 1969. Kim first became interested in science as a high school student. When asked why she chose science as a lifelong career, she said, “I was charmed by the simplicity of the principles underlying the complexity of life.”