“In the future we will be able to treat various chronic diseases such as neurodegenerative disease thanks to our research on protein folding.”

Recognized with the 16th BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine, Kazutoshi Mori explains in this interview how his research on the endoplasmic reticulum and the cellular response to protein stress transformed our understanding of cell biology. Through his discoveries, he reveals the fundamental mechanisms by which cells ensure proper protein folding and preserve their functional integrity. Mori underscores the importance of these basic processes in preventing diseases caused by misfolded proteins and highlights how fundamental molecular biology paves the way for future therapies.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine has gone in this sixteenth edition to F. Ulrich Hartl, Arthur Horwich, Kazutoshi Mori and Peter Walter “for revealing how cells control protein biogenesis and degradation, central not only to physiology but also disease pathogenesis and therapy”.