Furchgott, the ‘Viagra scientist’ passes away

London, May 24: Robert Furchgott, a leading scientist from United States, who shared a Nobel Prize in 1998 for his contribution in the development of Viagra, has passed away. He was 92.

BBC reports that Furchgott"s family announced he had died in Seattle on Tuesday, may 19. Furchgott conducted a research, showing that the gas nitric oxide played an important role in the cardiovascular system.

The discovery that the gas could help enlarge blood vessels was a factor in the development of Viagra by the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer.

Aside from the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine he received in 1998, Furchgott has also got a Gairdner Foundation International Award for his groundbreaking discoveries (1991) and the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (1996), the latter with Ferid Murad.

ANI