Just Say NO

Calbiochem's Nitric Oxide & Oxidative Stress Research Tools

When scientists go exploring for new drugs, they begin by charting the metabolic pathways that lead to a specific physiological result. The enormity of such a task can be likened to another great adventure: the search for the source of the Nile. Explorers knew that water was flowing into Egypt, but from where? Countless tributaries empty into the mighty river transporting soil, commerce, and water rich in organisms from a dozen different nations. Yet it is the river's source, the geographical apex of the region, that gives the river its remarkable character.

Likewise, scientists knew they were observing some important phenomena that were unexplained by any existing knowledge of chemistry, but for years the culprit could not be disentangled from the complicated web of inhibitors and catalysts. For over one hundred years this molecule had been prescribed in the form of nitroglycerin...