1998 Nobel Laureates in Medicine

In 1998, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to Robert F. Furchgott, Louis J. Ignarro, and Ferid Murad for discovering how our blood vessels relax and widen, which is crucial for healthy blood flow. They identified that a gas called nitric oxide acts as a signaling molecule, helping blood vessels dilate, and plays a role in processes like blood pressure regulation and immune response. Their work has improved understanding of cardiovascular health and contributed to treatments for heart diseases, highlighting a new way our bodies communicate on a molecular level.