Robert Furchgott shared Nobel for his work with nitric oxide

Published 5:00 am Saturday, May 23, 2009

Robert Furchgott, a pharmacologist whose work with the gas nitric oxide opened new vistas of research in cardiovascular functions, helped lead to the development of Viagra, the anti-impotency drug, and brought him a share of a Nobel Prize, died on Tuesday in Seattle. He was 92.

His daughter Susan Furchgott confirmed the death.

Nitric oxide had been known as an air pollutant that contributed to smog and acid rain, but research by Furchgott, Dr. Louis Ignarro and Dr. Ferid Murad proved that it acted as an important signal in the cardiovascular system, mediating blood pressure and blood flow.

In awarding the prize for physiology or medicine in 1998, the Swedish Nobel assembly praised the scientists for providing the first proof that a gas, despite its inherent instability and ephemeral nature, can perform important biochemical functions in the body.

Subsequent research by others has indicated that nitric oxide, a colorless, odorless gas, has significant medical potential. It is being widely explored as a possible treatment for heart disease, shock, cancer, pain and pulmonary hypertension, a potentially fatal condition in premature infants.

In 1992, the journal Science anointed nitric oxide its “molecule of the year.”

In an interview with The New York Times in 1998, Dr. Valentin Fuster, then president of the American Heart Association, said that “the discovery of nitric oxide and its function is one of the most important in the history of cardiovascular medicine.”

Robert Francis Furchgott was born in Charleston, S.C., on June 4, 1916, and developed an early interest in birds, shells and other natural phenomena, and enjoyed reading books about scientists. He earned a degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina and a doctorate in biochemistry from Northwestern University.

Before coming to SUNY Downstate in 1956, he taught and researched at Cornell and Washington Universities. He was chairman of Downstate’s pharmacology department from 1956 until 1982, then, after stepping down, continued as a professor until his retirement in 1989. Even after leaving teaching, he continued doing research at Downstate.

In the 1950s, Furchgott developed a method for determining how blood vessels respond to medications, neurotransmitters and hormones, using a rabbit’s artery. This allowed him to study the effects of drugs on vascular smooth muscle.

Another early contribution was his discovery that such muscles relax when exposed to ultraviolet light, a phenomenon known as photo-relaxation.

Furchgott’s first wife, Lenore, died in 1983, and his second, Margaret, died several years ago. He is survived by his daughters, Jane, Susan and Terry Furchgott; four grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.