Into the Impossible With Brian Keating From Pipe Bombs to Viagra: Nobel Prize Winner’s Secrets Revealed
Oct 6, 2025
Lou Ignarro, a Nobel Prize-winning pharmacologist, shares his fascinating journey from a pipe-bomb-making teen to a scientific pioneer. He discusses the groundbreaking discovery of nitric oxide, its crucial role in cardiovascular health, and its surprising connection to Viagra. Lou reveals how curiosity drives scientific breakthroughs and highlights the molecule's varied applications across different organs. He also touches on his heart-healthy diet and offers advice to young aspiring scientists.
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From Pipe Bombs To Nobel Discovery
- Lou Ignarro converted childhood curiosity about explosives into scientific inquiry about nitroglycerin's medical effects.
- That curiosity led him to discover nitroglycerin is metabolized into nitric oxide, which relaxes arteries.
How A Fleeting Gas Controls Biology
- Nitric oxide (NO) is synthesized on demand, lasts only seconds, and acts locally in tissues.
- NO raises cyclic GMP, which then mediates smooth-muscle relaxation and longer-lasting effects.
Viagra's Indirect But Powerful Mechanism
- Viagra works by inhibiting the enzyme (PDE5) that breaks down cyclic GMP, not by delivering NO directly.
- This preserves cyclic GMP produced by NO and thereby sustains vasodilation and erections.
