The 2003 Nobel Prize was awarded in part to Peter Agre of Johns Hopkins for his discovery, around 1990, of a membrane protein that allows water to pass through cell walls. The discovery of aquaporin solved a longtime problem in biochemistry.
Technical application:
water filters
Bionic application:
Further description:
http://www.aquaporin.dk/85/aquaporins.aspx
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Aquamembrane
Contact:
Sources and Picture-sources: