“We understand that inhibiting the unfolding protein response will be beneficial to affect cancer cells, and now we need to develop appropriate medicines.”

After receiving the 16th BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine, Peter Walter explains how his work uncovered the mechanisms by which cells detect and respond to protein stress in the endoplasmic reticulum. In the interview, he reflects on the elegance of these control pathways, which are essential for maintaining cellular health, and on their relevance for understanding diseases associated with aging and protein misfolding.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 re

vealing how cells control protein biogenesis and degradation, central not only to physiology but also disease pathogenesis and therapy”.