ABSTRACT
Bert Sakmann and Erwin Neher are famous for developing the patch-clamp method that allowed the tiny currents of single ion channels in cells to be measured in time frames as little as 1 msec – a break through laying the foundation of molecular electrophysiology as a recognised science. The study of ion channels is one of the major endeavours of modern cell biology because they are the crucial components in the activity of living cells. Indeed, a number of neurological diseases are caused or affected by the defective functioning of ion channels, which include multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, involuntary motor movement and deaf ness. Through careful analysis, Neher and Sakmann were even able to determine that the main sodium current in cultured muscle cells had a mean amplitude of 1.6 picroamperes, which only lasted for a millisecond. In 1991, Neher and Sakmann were awarded the Nobel Prize for "their discoveries concerning the function of single ion channels in cells".
