Duve won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974 for describing the structure and function of lysosomes and peroxisomes in the cell . Duve shared the Nobel prize with Albert Claude and George E. Palade . He was awarded the shared Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1974 , together with Albert Claude and George E. Palade , for describing the structure and function of organelles ( lysosomes and peroxisomes ) in biological cells .