Roderick MacKinnon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Roderick MacKinnon
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MacKinnon in 2014
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| Born | February 19, 1956 |
| Nationality | American |
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| Known for | Potassium Channel Structure |
| Spouse(s) | Jue Chen (2017–) |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
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Roderick MacKinnon (born February 19, 1956) is an American scientist. He is a biophysicist, which means he studies how living things work using physics. He is also a neuroscientist, studying the brain and nervous system.
MacKinnon is a professor at Rockefeller University. In 2003, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He shared this award with Peter Agre. They won for their important discoveries about tiny tunnels in our bodies called ion channels. MacKinnon's work focused on how these channels are built and how they let specific particles pass through.
Contents
About Roderick MacKinnon
Early Life and Learning
Roderick MacKinnon was born in Burlington, Massachusetts. He first went to the University of Massachusetts Boston. After a year, he moved to Brandeis University.
At Brandeis, he earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 1978. For his special project, he studied how calcium moves through the outer layer of cells, called the cell membrane. He worked in a lab with Professor Christopher Miller. It was also at Brandeis that he met his future wife, Alice Lee, who was also a scientist.
After Brandeis, MacKinnon went to medical school at Tufts University. He became a doctor in 1982. He trained in internal medicine at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. However, he realized he preferred scientific research. So, in 1986, he went back to Professor Miller's lab at Brandeis to continue his studies.
His Scientific Career
In 1989, MacKinnon became a professor at Harvard University. There, he studied how potassium channels interact with a special poison from scorpion venom. This work helped him learn how to clean and study proteins. He also learned about X-ray crystallography, a method to see the detailed structure of molecules.
In 1996, he moved to Rockefeller University. He became a professor and led a lab focused on molecular neurobiology and biophysics. This is where he began his famous work on the structure of potassium channels. These channels are very important for our nervous system and heart. They allow tiny potassium particles, called ions, to cross the cell membrane.
Understanding Potassium Channels
Potassium channels have a surprising ability: they let potassium ions pass through, but they block much smaller sodium ions. Before MacKinnon's research, scientists didn't know exactly how these channels worked. They didn't know their detailed structure or how they chose which ions to let through.
In 1998, MacKinnon and his team made a big breakthrough. It was very hard to study the structure of proteins found in cell membranes. But they used X-ray crystallography to figure out the 3D shape of a potassium channel. This channel came from a type of bacteria called Streptomyces lividans.
With this structure and other experiments, MacKinnon and his colleagues could finally explain how potassium channels are so selective. They showed how the channel acts like a special filter, letting only potassium ions pass.
His award-winning research was done at important science centers. These included the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) at Cornell University. He also worked at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
MacKinnon was chosen to be a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2005. In 2007, he became a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Awards and Special Recognition
Roderick MacKinnon has received many important awards for his scientific work:
- 1997: Newcomb Cleveland Prize
- 1998: W. Alden Spencer Award
- 1999: Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award
- 2000: Rosenstiel Award
- 2001: Gairdner Foundation International Award
- 2003: Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
- 2003: Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Business Ventures
Roderick MacKinnon also used his scientific knowledge to help people. He worked with his friend, neurobiologist Bruce Bean, to create a dietary supplement. This supplement was designed to help treat and prevent muscle cramps.
They tested their invention and then started a company called Flex Pharma. The goal was to make their invention available to others. The company later launched a product called "HotShot." This was a dietary supplement for athletes who do endurance sports.
See also
In Spanish: Roderick MacKinnon para niños
