Aquaporin Water Channels (Nobel Lecture)

Water is the most important component of all organisms and is the basis of all life. That water can pass through cell membranes has long been known—but how is the selective transport of water molecules achieved without concommitent diffusion of H3O+ ions? Peter Agre received the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and investigation of the membrane proteins responsible, namely, the aquaproteins.