Robert F. Furchgott | American Pharmacologist, Nitric Oxide Research

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Furchgott</h1> </div> <div class="topic-identifier font-16 font-md-20">American pharmacologist</div> </div> <div class="d-block d-sm-none md-topic-tools-mobile mt-20" style="right:20px" data-topic-id="222548"> <button class="js-tooltip-actions ml-10 btn btn-xs btn-outline-blue border shadow-sm pr-10"> <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 my-n5 mr-5" data-icon="more_vert"></em> Actions </button> <div class="md-actions-popover popover popover-sm py-5 px-0 z-1"> <div> <button class="js-modal qa-cite-modal-button btn btn-sm btn-link" data-modal="[data-topic-id=222548] .md-cite-modal-mobile"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="verified"></em> Cite </button> <div class="md-cite-modal-mobile size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif d-flex align-items-center pb-15 border-bottom mb-15"> <em class="material-icons text-blue mr-10">verified</em>Cite </div> <div class="font-serif"> While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link byline-link editor-link p-0 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12"> <span class="text-gray-700 font-sans-serif"> Last Updated: </span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-F-Furchgott/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border w-100 rounded-sm shadow-sm js-sections-inline-button my-20"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="topic-content"> <script class="page-description-json" type="application/json"> { "url": "/biography/Robert-F-Furchgott", "shareUrl": "https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-F-Furchgott", "browserTitle": "Robert F. Furchgott | American Pharmacologist, Nitric Oxide Research", "documentGroup": "TOPIC PAGINATED BIO MEDIUM", "firstTopicPage": true } </script>  <div class="mb-20 mb-sm-35 mb-lg-25"> <google-read-aloud-player data-voice="en-us-m-3" data-tracking-ids="UA-168915890-24,G-0B6QQVKFV8" data-api-key="AIzaSyBJdCURs_s6wfa7XECRfj5mZVTjYdsf538" data-docking-anchor-offset-vertical="90" data-docking-anchor-offset-horizontal="360" data-url="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-F-Furchgott/Introduction" data-scope="-biography-Robert-F-Furchgott"> </google-read-aloud-player> </div> <div class="reading-channel" id="-biography-Robert-F-Furchgott"> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module border p-20 ml-lg-20 mx-auto mb-20 font-14 bg-white"> <div class="facts-list "> <div class="mb-10"> <span class="font-weight-bold">Category:</span> <a class="SCIENCE font-weight-semi-bold super-category-badge rounded font-14" href="/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/Science-Tech"> Science & Tech </a> </div> <dl class="js-fact mb-10 position-relative "> <dt class="d-inline">Born:</dt> <dd class="d-inline"> <span class="fact-item">June 4, 1916</span> <span class="fact-item"><a href="/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/place/Charleston-South-Carolina">Charleston</a></span> <span class="fact-item"><a href="/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Carolina">South Carolina</a></span> </dd> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 position-absolute pr-20 bottom-0 right-0 bg-white" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> ...<em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </dl> <dl class="js-fact mb-10 position-relative line-clamp clamp-3"> <dt class="d-inline">Died:</dt> <dd class="d-inline"> <span class="fact-item">May 19, 2009 (aged 92)</span> <span class="fact-item"><a href="/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/place/Seattle-Washington">Seattle</a></span> <span class="fact-item"><a href="/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/place/Washington-state">Washington</a></span> </dd> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 position-absolute pr-20 bottom-0 right-0 bg-white" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> ...<em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </dl> <dl class="js-fact mb-10 position-relative line-clamp clamp-3"> <dt class="d-inline">Awards And Honors:</dt> <dd class="d-inline"> <span class="fact-item"><a href="/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nobel-Prize">Nobel Prize (1998)</a></span></dd> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 position-absolute pr-20 bottom-0 right-0 bg-white" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> ...<em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </dl> <dl class="js-fact mb-0 position-relative line-clamp clamp-3"> <dt class="d-inline">Subjects Of Study:</dt> <dd class="d-inline"> <span class="fact-item"><a href="/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/human-cardiovascular-system">human cardiovascular system</a></span> <span class="fact-item"><a href="/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/nitric-oxide">nitric oxide</a></span> </dd> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 position-absolute pr-20 bottom-0 right-0 bg-white" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> ...<em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </dl> </div> <div class="text-center mt-20"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-outline-blue border" href="/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/facts/Robert-F-Furchgott"> See all related content →</a> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section id="ref1" data-level="1"><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref668283"></span>Robert F. Furchgott</strong>, in full <strong>Robert Francis Furchgott</strong>, (born June 4, 1916, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/place/Charleston-South-Carolina" class="md-crosslink autoxref" data-show-preview="true">Charleston</a>, S.C., U.S.鈥攄ied May 19, 2009, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/place/Seattle-Washington" class="md-crosslink autoxref" data-show-preview="true">Seattle</a>, Wash.), American pharmacologist who, along with <span id="ref668289"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Ignarro" class="md-crosslink" data-show-preview="true">Louis J. Ignarro</a> and <span id="ref668290"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferid-Murad" class="md-crosslink" data-show-preview="true">Ferid Murad</a>, was co-awarded the 1998 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nobel-Prize" class="md-crosslink" data-show-preview="true">Nobel Prize</a> in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/nitric-oxide" class="md-crosslink" data-show-preview="true">nitric oxide</a> (NO) acts as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system. Their <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="combined" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/combined" data-type="EB">combined</a> work uncovered an entirely new mechanism by which <span id="ref668284"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/blood-vessel" class="md-crosslink" data-show-preview="true">blood vessels</a> in the body relax and widen.</p><span class="marker p1"></span><span class="marker AM1 am-inline"></span><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Furchgott received his B.S. in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/chemistry" class="md-crosslink autoxref" data-show-preview="true">chemistry</a> from the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/topic/University-of-North-Carolina" class="md-crosslink autoxref" data-show-preview="true">University of North Carolina</a> in 1937 and his Ph.D. in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/biochemistry" class="md-crosslink autoxref" data-show-preview="true">biochemistry</a> from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Northwestern-University-Evanston-Illinois" class="md-crosslink autoxref" data-show-preview="true">Northwestern University</a> in 1940. He joined SUNY-Brooklyn鈥檚 department of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/pharmacology" class="md-crosslink autoxref" data-show-preview="true">pharmacology</a> in 1956, a position he held until 1989, when he retired as professor emeritus and became an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Medicine in Florida. Nearly all of Furchgott鈥檚 research involved the study of the mechanism of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/drug-chemical-agent" class="md-crosslink autoxref" data-show-preview="true">drug</a> interaction with the receptors in blood vessels.</p><span class="marker p2"></span><span class="marker AM2 am-inline"></span><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/faces-of-science"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/88/144788-131-ADACA20E/Michael-Faraday-John-Frederic-Daniell.jpg" alt="Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell." class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70"/> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Faces of Science</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In the work for which he shared the Nobel Prize, Furchgott demonstrated that cells in the endothelium, or inner lining, of blood <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="vessels" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/vessels" data-type="EB">vessels</a> produce an unknown signaling molecule. The molecule, which he named <span id="ref668285"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/endothelium-derived-relaxing-factor" class="md-crosslink">endothelium-derived relaxing factor</a> (EDRF), signals <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/smooth-muscle" class="md-crosslink autoxref" data-show-preview="true">smooth muscle</a> cells in blood vessel walls to relax, dilating the vessels. Furchgott鈥檚 work would eventually be linked with research done by Murad in 1977, which showed that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/nitroglycerin" class="md-crosslink" data-show-preview="true">nitroglycerin</a> and several related heart drugs induce the formation of <span id="ref668286"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/nitric-oxide" class="md-crosslink" data-show-preview="true">nitric oxide</a>, a colourless, odourless gas that acts to increase the diameter of blood vessels. Once Ignarro demonstrated that EDRF was nitric oxide, the stage was set for the discovery of the many applications of this important basic research. Furchgott and Ignarro first announced their findings at a scientific <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="conference" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/conference" data-type="EB">conference</a> in 1986 and triggered an international boom in research on nitric oxide. Scientists later showed that nitric oxide is manufactured by many different kinds of cells in the body and has a role in regulating a variety of body functions. The research done by Murad, Furchgott, and Ignarro was key to the development of the highly successful anti-impotence drug sildenafil citrate (<span id="ref668287"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/Viagra" class="md-crosslink" data-show-preview="true">Viagra</a>), which acts to increase nitric oxide鈥檚 effect in penile blood vessels. Researchers suggested that nitric oxide could be a key to improved treatments for <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/science/heart-disease" class="md-crosslink autoxref" data-show-preview="true">heart disease</a>, shock, and cancer.</p><span class="marker p3"></span><span class="marker AM3 am-inline"></span><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In addition to the Nobel Prize, Furchgott received the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 1996.</p><span class="marker p4"></span><span class="marker AM4 am-inline"></span><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/editor/Kara-Rogers/6713">Kara Rogers</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//web.archive.org/web/20230925042619if_/https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":222548,"pageLength":371,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [{"id":1012,"name":"SUBSCRIPTION_LINK_DESKTOP","selector":"#fake"}] </script> <script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619js_/https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-103/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.103.19"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-103/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.103.19' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"D","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"BIO_MEDIUM","gisted":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619js_/https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-6636134-11" async="async"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> function gaPageLoad(pathname, documentLocation) { pathname = pathname || location.pathname; documentLocation = documentLocation || document.querySelector('html').getAttribute('data-ytrk-page'); if (documentLocation) { documentLocation = documentLocation.replace(/ /g, '/'); if (documentLocation.charAt(0) !== '/') { documentLocation = '/' + documentLocation; } window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag() { dataLayer.push(arguments); } gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('set', { 'dimension1': 'ANONYMOUS', 'dimension2': 'D', 'dimension3': 'D' }); //console.log( "*****[UA]***** -> ", documentLocation + pathname + decodeURI(location.search) ); gtag('config', 'UA-6636134-11', { 'page_path': documentLocation + pathname + decodeURI(location.search), 'link_attribution': true, }); } } gaPageLoad(); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//web.archive.org/web/20230925042619/https://www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> <script defer src="https://web.archive.org/web/20230925042619js_/https://static.cloudflareinsights.com/beacon.min.js/v8b253dfea2ab4077af8c6f58422dfbfd1689876627854" integrity="" data-cf-beacon="{"rayId":"80c08220d86815ed","version":"2023.8.0","b":1,"token":"5cc7d7124de641b181da990fc8c9a0b6","si":100}" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> </body> </html>

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Robert F. Furchgott | American Pharmacologist, Nitric Oxide Research | Britannica