Irwin Rose

Facts

Irwin Rose

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Irwin Rose
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2004

Born: 16 July 1926, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Died: 3 June 2015, Deerfield, MA, USA

Affiliation at the time of the award: University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

Prize motivation: “for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation”

Prize share: 1/3

Work

An important process in our cells is the production of proteins. But proteins must also be broken down. At the beginning of the 1980s, Irwin Rose, Aaron Ciechanover, and Avram Hershko showed that one protein, ubiquitin, has a special mission in this context. When it is time for a protein to be broken down, a ubiquitin molecule attaches itself to the protein. The ubiquitin molecule serves as a key that enters a proteasome, a protein complex that divides the protein into smaller pieces. These can be used in the construction of other substances in the cell.

To cite this section
MLA style: Irwin Rose – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Tue. 19 Mar 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2004/rose/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Eleven laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2023, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. Their work and discoveries range from effective mRNA vaccines and attosecond physics to fighting against the oppression of women.

See them all presented here.
Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.