Powered by proton gradient, world-first helical molecule transports water across membranes
Wednesday, April 1, 2015 - 09:30
in Physics & Chemistry
Getting water across lipid membranes is not easy. In nature, molecules called aquaporins, discovered in the 1990s, move water from one side of a biological membrane to another, but the molecules are fragile and bulky. Now, researchers from the A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology have synthesized a much smaller molecule, which behaves like a 'molecular drinking straw' and which may have applications in water purification and elsewhere.