When phosphorylation goes wrong, it can cause diseases such as cancer, diabetes and arthritis.

BBC: Sir Philip Cohen

Short-term memory, he discovered, relies on the phosphorylation mechanism described by Dr Greengard.

ECONOMIST: The Nobel prizes

Phosphorylation is a type of cell regulation involving the attachment to, or removal of, phosphate groups from proteins, thereby switching their biological functions on or off, or making them more or less stable.

BBC: Sir Philip Cohen