Irwin Rose, 2004 Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry dies

Irwin Rose, American biochemist who won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, died Tuesday, June 2, at the age of 88. Until her death, Roses was a researcher at the University of California, Irvine.

Rose was said to have passed away in his sleep in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Rose shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko of the Israel Institute of Technology in 2004 for his groundbreaking work on enzymes that break down and dispose of unwanted proteins in plants and animals.

His research helped scientists better understand molecular activities in cancer and other diseases.

Rose was born in Brooklyn and spent his teenage years in Spokane, Washington. He earned a doctoral degree at the University of Chicago in 1952 and spent most of his career as a research scientist at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

After retiring to Laguna Beach, California, in 1997, Rose continued his studies with a special research position in UCI’s Department of Physiology and Biophysics, where he became a popular student mentor.