The winners are two American biochemists: Peter Agra and Roderick McKinnon who "advanced science in the way of creating medicines for patients"
Yuval Dror
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The winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year are awarded to two American biochemists, Peter Agra and Roderick McKinnon, the prize committee announced today (Wednesday). The two won the prize for their contribution to the understanding of the mechanisms that allow the entry and exit of water and ions into and out of the cell through the cell membrane (membrane). The prize in the amount of 1.3 million dollars will be divided between the two scientists.
An explanation according to which the cells in the human body have special channels for transferring water in and out of the cell was put forward already in the middle of the 19th century. However, it was only in 1988 that 54-year-old Peter Agra from Johns Hopkins University of Medicine in Baltimore was able to recover it. "His discovery opened the door to research in the fields of biochemistry, physiology and genetics on water channels in bacteria, plants and mammals," wrote the award committee. "Nowadays, researchers can meticulously follow a water molecule on its way to the cell membrane and understand why only water, and not other small molecules, are able to enter the cell."
47-year-old Roderick McKinnon of the Howard Hughes Medical Center in New York, wins the award for his 1998 study in which he presented for the first time what an ion channel looks like at the automatic level. His contribution today allows scientists to "see" ions passing through channels and transmitting electrical signals to other cells. The award committee notes that the two discoveries are of great importance since a large number of diseases are related to the improper functioning of the water and ion channels. The understanding of the way the canals work and how they look advances science on the way to creating drugs that will help patients overcome the problem.
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