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Nature 446, 32-34 (1 March 2007) | doi:10.1038/446032a; Published online 28 February 2007

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Physiology: Legacy of leaky channels

Richard Horn1

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Mutations that affect the opening and closing of ion channels in cell membranes are associated with disease. Defects in other properties of these channels can also cause ion leakage, with equally devastating consequences.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, when the first cell emerged from the primordial ooze, it was enclosed by a membrane that was impermeable to many of the substances needed to sustain life. To overcome this obstacle, the cell had to invent transporters, exchangers, pumps and ion channels.

  1. Richard Horn is in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Hyperexcitability, Jefferson Medical College, 1020 Locust Street, Philadelphia 19107, USA.
    Email: richard.horn@jefferson.edu

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