The discovery by Gh. Benga of the first water channel protein in 1985 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, A few years before P. Agre (2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry)
Cucuianu, M.
Romanian Journal of Internal Medicine 44(3): 323-334
2006
ISSN/ISBN: 1220-4749 PMID: 18386610 Document Number: 596475
The first water channel protein, now called aquaporin 1, was identified or "seen" in situ in the human red blood cell membrane by Benga's group in 1985. It was again "seen" when it was by chance purified by Agre'group in 1988 and was again identified when its main feature, the water transport property, was found by Agre's group in 1992. Consequently, the omission of Gh. Benga from the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (half of which was awarded to P. Agre "for the discovery of the water channels") is a new mistake in the award of Nobel Prizes. The growing recognition of the priority of Gh. Benga over P. Agre in the discovery of water channels is documented in this paper.