Discovery
The DRG neurons of mammals were known to express a heat-sensitive ion channel which could be activated by capsaicin. The research group of David Julius therefore created a cDNA library of genes expressed in dorsal root ganglion neurons, expressed the clones in HEK 293 cells and looked for cells which respond to capsaicin with calcium influx (which HEK-293 normally not do). After several rounds of screening and dividing the library, a single clone encoding the TRPV1 channel was finally identified in 1997. It was the first TRPV channel to be identified.
Read more about this topic: TRPV1
Famous quotes containing the word discovery:
“The discovery of the North Pole is one of those realities which could not be avoided. It is the wages which human perseverance pays itself when it thinks that something is taking too long. The world needed a discoverer of the North Pole, and in all areas of social activity, merit was less important here than opportunity.”
—Karl Kraus (1874–1936)
“He is not a true man of science who does not bring some sympathy to his studies, and expect to learn something by behavior as well as by application. It is childish to rest in the discovery of mere coincidences, or of partial and extraneous laws. The study of geometry is a petty and idle exercise of the mind, if it is applied to no larger system than the starry one.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The gain is not the having of children; it is the discovery of love and how to be loving.”
—Polly Berrien Berends (20th century)