But what is autophagy, and why is this process so relevant for cells, and at final for the organism and health? The concept of autophagy was introduced in the 1960s to define a process by which cells can degrade/"eat" (phagy) their own waste (auto) through lysosomes. The autophagy system financial aid thus enables cells to degrade waste products and cleanse themselves internally, eliminating waste that could be toxic. Autophagy is also a dynamic recycling system for cell renewal and homeostasis.

It can be said that autophagy is essential to protect the cell from stressful situations. Thus, cells start the autophagy process when they need to obtain energy in situations of starvation. Autophagy has also been linked to the immune system, as it has been shown that cells use autophagy to get rid of pathogens during bacterial or viral infections. Autophagy has also been described as a quality control system that allows cells to get rid of defective proteins or organelles produced during cellular aging processes.

Today we know that the correct functioning of autophagy is essential to prevent normal cells from becoming cancerous. Likewise, defects in autophagy have been linked to the development of various pathologies such as diabetes, fatty liver disease, certain heart diseases and myopathies, as well as neurodegenerative diseases. For example, autophagic process alterations have been observed in Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Crohn's disease.

Dr. Ohsumi's research on autophagy has been pioneering and his experimental designs have result been instrumental in identifying the genes/proteins involved in the functioning of the autophagic process in cells, as recognized by the award of the award Nobel Prize.

In addition, these investigations are critical in the search for polymorphisms in autophagy-related genes that could predispose to development of some of the aforementioned pathologies.

Undoubtedly, this recognition highlights the importance of a basic research of excellence that allows unraveling the mechanisms involved in pathologies and the identification of new therapeutic targets.