Striving Towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Today for this year , Peter Agre and Roderick MacKinnon jointly will be awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Here’s a brief overview of their achievements:

Peter Agre:

• Education: M.D. from my alma mater Johns Hopkins University (1982)
• Discovery: Identified and characterized aquaporins, a type of protein channel that allows water molecules to pass through cell membranes. This was a groundbreaking discovery as it helped explain how water, essential for life, is transported within cells.

Roderick MacKinnon:

• Education: Ph.D. in Biophysics from Harvard University (1982)
• Discovery: Determined the three-dimensional structure of potassium channels, which are ion channels crucial for transmitting nerve impulses and maintaining muscle function. His work provided insights into the mechanisms of ion channel function and paved the way for the development of new drugs.

Both Agre and MacKinnon will receive half of the prize money for their independent, yet complementary, contributions to our understanding of cell membrane channels. Their discoveries have had a significant impact on various fields, including cell biology, physiology, and medicine.