Nobel Prize in Chemistry Opens Channels: Research reveals vital function of tiny pores in cell membranes

The 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded Oct. 8, honors two researchers whose pioneering work on channels in cell membranes has elucidated how ions and water molecules get in and out of cells. Such protein-based channels or pores underlie much of physiology, from the firing of nerve cells in the brain to the regulation of water by the kidneys.