“Chaperone research has important implications for neurodegenerative disorders and cancer”

Awarded the 16th BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine, F. Ulrich Hartl explains in this interview how the discovery of the essential role of molecular chaperones transformed our understanding of protein folding. Hartl describes why this mechanism is crucial for preventing the accumulation of defective structures linked to aging and neurodegenerative diseases, and reflects on how this line of research opened up new avenues for addressing some of the most urgent biomedical challenges.

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”.