She Invented That A digital museum of women in science

Scientist Exhibit

Linda B. Buck

Biology & Life Sciences • Medicine & Health

1947 – Present United States

Discovered odorant receptors and helped explain how the olfactory system recognizes smells

Overview Institutions
Linda B. Buck

Overview

About Linda B. Buck

Linda B. Buck is a biologist whose research revealed the molecular basis of the sense of smell. Working with Richard Axel, she discovered a large family of genes encoding odorant receptors and showed how olfactory sensory neurons use these receptors to detect different odors. Their work provided a framework for understanding how the nervous system distinguishes an enormous range of smells. Buck shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Scientific Contribution

Key Discovery

Odorant receptors and olfactory coding

Discovery of odorant receptors and key principles explaining how the olfactory system distinguishes smells.

Life Timeline

Important Moments

1991

discovery

Identifies a large family of odorant receptor genes

Buck and Richard Axel reported a large multigene family encoding odorant receptors, providing a molecular basis for understanding how the sense of smell begins.

1991

publication

Publishes the landmark odorant receptor paper

Buck and Axel published their receptor-gene discovery in Cell, establishing a new framework for studying olfaction.

2002

career

Joins the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Buck moved to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, where she continued research on neural mechanisms underlying sensory perception and behaviour.

2004

award

Receives the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Buck shared the Nobel Prize with Richard Axel for discoveries of odorant receptors and the organisation of the olfactory system.

Places & Networks

Institutions