By Stephen J. Bronner
Furchgott received the Nobel Prize for his work contributing to the discovery that nitric oxide gas can mediate blood pressure and blood flow. His work helped lead to the development of Viagra, the anti-impotency drug, as well as other drugs. Furchgott, Dr. Louis J. Ignarro and Dr. Ferid Murad, each working independently, studied the effect of nitric oxide on the human body. The gas was previously known only as an air pollutant that contributed to smog and acid rain. This research won the three scientists the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine in 1998.
“The Nobel committee does a pretty good job of recognizing major things,” said Dr. John LaRosa, who for the past nine years has been president of the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, where Furchgott worked from 1956 up until the beginning of this decade. “This was a major and important discovery that not only had immediate implications for science but for the treatment of disease.”
Furchgott made his nitric oxide discovery in the lab at Downstate. In his research, Furchgott studied the effects of medications and other chemicals on blood vessels, using a rabbit's aorta. He discovered that vascular smooth muscle relaxes when exposed to ultraviolet light, a phenomenon known as photo-relaxation.
In the 1980s, Furchgott further examined the effects of such naturally occurring chemicals on blood vessels. He found that the chemicals stimulated the release of a signaling molecule that told muscles of the blood vessels to relax. He called this signaling agent EDRF, but did not know its chemical composition. Ignarro, while working independently and with Furchgott, demonstrated that EDRF was, in effect, nitric oxide.
LaRosa stressed the dedication of Furchgott to science research. “Great scientists are like great artists, they're compelled to do what they do,” LaRosa said. “I think that's the kind of the guy that he was, he just loved being in the laboratory. Not for the fame of it, he was just curious, and the best scientists are that way.”
Furchgott was born in Charleston, S.C., on June 4, 1916. He lived in the Five Towns for about 40 years, according to his daughter, Jane Furchgott. Dr. Furchgott lived in Woodmere from 1958 to 1985, in Hewlett from 1985 to 2000 and then in Lawrence for about a year. He enjoyed going to the beach and sailing, and had many friends in the Five Towns, his daughter said. A sign stood in Hewlett, at the intersection of Broadway and West Broadway, for many years boasting Furchgott's Nobel success, according to Lawrence resident and friend Dr. Noel Kleppel.
Furchgott is predeceased by his first wife, Lenore, who died in 1983, and second wife, Margaret, who died several years ago. He is survived by his daughters, Jane, Susan and Terry Furchgott; four grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.
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