On October 7, 2013, the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institutet awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Sudhof for “their discoveries of mechanisms regulating vesicle trafficking, a major transport system in our cells”. Prior to this research, knowledge about the vesicle transport system used by eukaryotic cells was essentially limited to what could be observed, including its diverse tasks and actions and its considerable importance in cell survival. The question that remained unanswered, however: This is exactly how this system was able to perform and control its tasks with such efficiency and precision throughout the cell body and beyond. Therefore, Rothman, Schekman, and Sudhof provided a major advance in the current understanding of the vesicle transport system through their discoveries of the mechanics behind this system. The important metaphor used to explain the vesicle transport system in cells is a typical factory in that it produces and exports molecules essential for different cellular activities, similar to how a factory produces and delivers its products to its consumers. Cells, especially eukaryotic cells, are made up of different sections called organelles where different cellular functions occur. “This compartmentalization greatly improves the efficiency of many cellular functions and prevents potentially harmful molecules from moving freely within the cell” (Zierath & Lendahl). This quote shows the benefits of specialization within cell division; however, due to this "compartmentalization" of the cell, a system is necessary to transport and exchange molecules between these different intracellular sections to support the c...... middle of paper ...... Therefore, A defective vesicle transport system can lead to disease or even death if cellular activity is impaired in some way or a mutation is present. The findings presented by Schekman, Rothman, and Sudhof are of great importance here because they provide a knowledge base to build on to cure various diseases. The Nobel Prize press release states: “The system is essential for a variety of physiological processes in which vesicle fusion must be controlled, ranging from signaling in the brain to the release of hormones and immune cytokines. Defective vesicle transport occurs in a variety of diseases, including a number of neurological and immunological disorders, as well as in diabetes. Additionally, with new understanding of the mechanisms behind vesicle transport, researchers can approach the mysteries of certain diseases in a different way...