The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2003

 

 

 The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2003

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2003 “for discoveries concerning channels in cell membranes”, with one half of the prize to Peter Agre “for the discovery of water channels” and one half of the prize to Roderick MacKinnon “for structural and mechanistic studies of ion channels”.

     
   
 

Salt and water are important actors in the chemistry of life. Life on earth, and our own lives, originated in salt water – in the oceans and in the womb. Yet only fairly recently have we understood how water molecules and salt ions are transported in and out through the cell walls.

  
   
 

Peter Agre

Roderick MacKinnon
  Contents:
| Introduction | The cell’s contact | Water channels | Ion channels | Cells signal with salt | Timeline | Further reading | Credits |
  Web Adapted Version of the Nobel Poster from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

To cite this section
MLA style: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2003. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2025. Mon. 31 Mar 2025. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2003/8758-the-nobel-prize-in-chemistry-2003-2003-6/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Nobel Prizes 2024

Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.

See them all presented here.

Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.