Nobel Chemistry Winner Irwin Rose passes away at 88
The American biochemist Irwin Rose, 2004 Nobel Chemistry winner died in his sleep aged 88 on Tuesday in Deerfield, Massachusetts, The New York Times reported.
The news was confirmed by his son Howard, who pointed out that Rose died at the home of another one of his sons, Frederic, with whom he had been living for the last few years.
Rose won the Chemistry Nobel prize together with Israeli Avram Hershko and Aaron Ciechanoverm for discovering the way in which cells destroy unwanted proteins, which became the basis for developing new therapies against several diseases such as cervical cancer or cystic fibrosis.
He was interested in the opposite: How are proteins destroyed?
His discovery came at a time when most scientists were interested in knowing how proteins were created. “He was interested in the opposite: How are proteins destroyed?” said scientific director of Philadelphia's Fox Chase Cancer Centre Dr. Jonathan Chernoff.
“There were not very many people working on it,” Dr. Chernoff told the New York Times.
“I don’t think they particularly considered it an interesting question. But he thought it was an interesting question. And he was right.”
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