Chance findings that changed the course of cardiology forever

Abstract

In scientific research, the general norm is that a scientist formulates a research question to fill gaps in scientific knowledge, and may then make a contribution to the existing knowledge. However, the history of medicine is peppered with chance discoveries which have occurred due to ‘happy accidents’ in the laboratory. This article is about three such chance discoveries that have greatly advanced our understanding of cardiology.

Sydney Ringer failed to perform an experiment that his technician Fielder routinely performed on the amphibian heart. The realization that the technician used ‘hard tap water’ which contained calcium, led Sydney to conclude that ionic calcium was necessary for the contraction of the amphibian heart muscle.

German physiologist, Otto Loewi, had a dream on Easter Sunday about an experiment. The dream was about a hypothesis on chemical neurotransmission that he had postulated seventeen years ago. His subsequent experiment led to the foundation of the modern chemical theory of neurotransmission. The first neurotransmitter Acetyclcholine was discovered.

An accidental observation led Robert Furch got discover that the endothelium was not inert and it released an agent which he called Endothelium Derived Relaxing Factor (EDRF). Later discoveries revealed EDRF to be Nitric Oxide. This led to the subsequent discovery of Viagra and a famous Nobel Prize for the scientists who discovered Nitric Oxide. Indeed, Furch got said, “Nobel means Nitric Oxide is beautiful.â€