“Acceptance Speech” Frontiers of Knowledge Award 2023 in Biology and Biomedicine

Acceptance speech by Kazutoshi Mori, winner of the 2023 Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine, who was honored alongside F. Ulrich Hartl, Arthur Horwich and Peter Walter for their discoveries on the cellular mechanisms that control protein biogenesis and degradation. Mori and Walter independently identified the unfolded protein response (UPR), a system that enables cells to detect and manage errors in protein folding.

Mori explains how this mechanism protects cells against endoplasmic reticulum stress and highlights its connection to the development of diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. He also discusses the therapeutic potential of modulating this cellular response, from the use of UPR inhibitors in cancer treatment to the development of therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), emphasizing the importance of further research to advance new treatments.