| 1 | Name: | Dr. Peter C. Agre | |
| Institution: | Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute | ||
| Year Elected: | 2004 | ||
| Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 201. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1949 | ||
Peter Agre is a physician-scientist who has spent the last two decades studying the proteins of red blood cells, including those of the red cell membrane that determine blood type. Along with other workers in Paris and England, he solved the old puzzle of whether the Rh blood type is determined by one gene or by two or more closely linked genes. He isolated a novel protein of the red cell membrane that proved to be the specific protein for a channel involved in transfer of water across the cell membrane. He found that this channel, which he called aquaporin-1, is present in many other types of cells, such as the kidney and lung, where he could show physiologic significance. Furthermore, he showed that the previously known Colton blood type was determined by variation in the aquaporin-1 protein. He found that aquaporin-1 is the archetypic member of a family of cell membrane proteins. In 2003 Dr. Agre was awarded the Nobel Prize for these discoveries. He has been Professor of Biological Chemistry and Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine since 1993. In February 2009 he became president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. | |||