Woda morska i dziury w błonach - Nagroda Nobla z chemii za rok 2003

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2003 was awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in equal parts to two American scientists: Peter Agre from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, for the discovery of the water channels, aquaporins, and Roderick MacKinnon from Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Rockefeller University in New York, for structural and mechanistic studies of the ion channels, especially the potassium and chloride channels. The major breakthrough made by the two scientists in our understanding of water and ion transport processes through biological membranes are briefly described in this editorial note, and the list of their recent selected publications is provided.