Andy Fire (now at Stanford) and Craig Mello (of the University of Massachusetts Medical School) are newly minted Nobel laureates. Just a few years back, they discovered a process called RNA interference ('RNAi') in the nematode worm C. elegans. Nature (free link) sums it up best:

RNAi, which occurs naturally in plants and animals, allows a gene to be specifically 'silenced'. This helps to regulate gene expression, and protects against viral infection and 'jumping genes' that can replicate and spread through the genome.

The process can also be induced experimentally by injecting tailor-made genetic sequences into cells, giving scientists a method for deliberately silencing a target gene. The method is now widely used as a basic genetic tool and is a promising candidate for future therapies.

These guys deserve it, and everybody knew they'd eventually win it. Personally, I'm still a little surprised some GFP folks haven't won yet (Roger Tsien, Douglas Prasher, Marty Chalfie). GFP is used everywhere, and some might argue that it has yielded more biological insights than has RNAi. Still, the RNAi guys did some great science, and I'm glad to see them win.

UPDATE: Aggie prof Jim Hu photoblogs the press conference at Stanford for Andy Fire. Nice work.

UPDATE: Of course, Berkeley is quick to note that Fire is a Berkeley alumn.