Profile of Michael A. Marietta

摘要

For more than three decades, Michael Marietta has traveled a serpentine road, working to elucidate a molecule whose importance to human physiology is as well recognized as his own contributions to his field. Named "Molecule of the Year" in 1992 by Science, nitric oxide, a noxious atmospheric gas, plays a pivotal role in biological functions as diverse as forming long-term memory and maintaining penile erections (1). Marietta, who was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2006, has shed light on the biochemistry of nitric oxide and the cellular machinery through which the molecule performs its functions.