“One amazing thing about the ubiquitin field is that it refuses to age”

Awarded the fourth Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine, biochemist Alexander Varshavsky explains in this interview how the discovery of the ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation pathway has transformed our understanding of cellular function. Varshavsky details how this system regulates essential processes such as the cell cycle, the stress response, and the stability of key proteins, and why its malfunction is linked to neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and developmental disorders. His reflections underscore the importance of studying the fundamental mechanisms that maintain cellular balance, as this knowledge has opened new therapeutic opportunities and redefined modern biomedical research.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Biomedicine category goes in this fourth edition to Alexander Varshavsky, for discovering the mechanisms involved in protein degradation and their critical importance in biological systems.