Juan José Martínez Irujo, professor at Biochemistry , evaluated in a roundtable held at the University of Navarra the finding for which the scientists Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko and Irwin Rose have been awarded the award Nobel Prize at Chemistry 2004. The session was moderated by Rafael Sirera, professor of Chemistry and Soil Science at the academic center.

The research developed by the award winners, focused on regulated protein degradation, represents an advance, in the words of the expert from the University of Navarra, in the understanding of "how the cell controls an important issue of processes through protein degradation. Some have to do with the supervision of cell division and DNA repair. Others are related to the control of newly synthesized proteins and essential components of the immune system, whose malfunction can lead to cervical cancer and cystic fibrosis, among other diseases".

In this sense, he assured that this better knowledge of the process of regulated protein degradation could be translated into the development of drugs against pathologies such as the two previous ones.

Genes related to the olfactory system

For his part, Rafael Jordana, Professor of Zoology and Animal Physiology at the University of Navarra, commented on the relevance of the contributions of Richard Axel and Linda B. Buck, distinguished with the award Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in this year's edition.

These experts have discovered the gene family that determines that humans are able to distinguish 10,000 odors. These genes are responsible for about a thousand proteins, which, through combinations, make it possible to recognize odorant substances.

According to Rafael Jordana, these programs of study "contribute to clarify the functioning of the olfactory system, the least known sense until now, as well as the principles that govern the recognition and report of odors".

Towards a unified theory of forces

award On the other hand, Wenceslao González Viñas, Professor of Materials Science at the University of Navarra, spoke about the Nobel Prize in Physics 2004, which has been awarded to David J. Gross, H. David Politzer and Frank Wilczek for the finding of asymptotic freedom in the theory of strong interactions.

Thus, he pointed out that finding constitutes "a very important step in the achievement of a theory in which the four fundamental forces of nature (gravitational, electromagnetic, weak interaction and strong interaction) are unified".