What Makes a Discovery Successful? The Story of Linda Buck and the Olfactory Receptors

Cell. 2020 May 14;181(4):749-753. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.040.

Abstract

In 1991, Buck and Axel published a landmark study in Cell for work that was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize. The identification of the olfactory receptors as the largest family of GPCRs catapulted olfaction into mainstream neurobiology. This BenchMark revisits Buck's experimental innovation and its surprising success at the time.

Keywords: GPCRs; PCR; history of science; odor receptors; olfaction; philosophy of science; scientific discovery; scientific narratives.

Publication types

  • Biography
  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Awards and Prizes
  • History, 20th Century
  • Humans
  • Neurobiology
  • Nobel Prize
  • Olfactory Receptor Neurons
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / metabolism
  • Receptors, Odorant / metabolism*
  • Smell / physiology*

Substances

  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled
  • Receptors, Odorant

Personal name as subject

  • Linda Buck