Why Was the Nobel Prize Awarded for Nitric Oxide?

The Nobel Prize is awarded annually (on December 10) in six categories: Physiology or Medicine, Chemistry, Physics, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences. There are two important criteria that must be established for one to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: (1) original discovery, and (2) benefit of discovery to humankind. The discovery that nitric oxide exists in and is produced by the mammalian species including humans is an “original discovery” made in my laboratory in 1986. The benefits to humankind are numerous, having been made in my laboratory and in other laboratories, and include cardiovascular function and health, brain function and health, digestive function, joint function, exercise endurance, erectile function, and many others. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for NO was awarded in 1998 to three pharmacologists working independently (Ferid Murad, Robert Furchgott, Louis Ignarro). The title of the Nobel Prize was “Nitric Oxide as a Unique Signaling Molecule in the Cardiovascular System”. Today, it is recognized that NO is a widespread signaling molecule in all organs of the body, not only the cardiovascular system. Please refer to other sections on my website to learn more about the basics of Nitric Oxide and how this magic molecule protects us against all sorts of diseases and disorders.