Christina Kim

which kind of makes it the perfect ThruLine episode. So here we go. I'm Christina Kim, and today on ThruLine from NPR, I'm asking you to go on a little adventure to unpack the enigma of smell.

which kind of makes it the perfect ThruLine episode. So here we go. I'm Christina Kim, and today on ThruLine from NPR, I'm asking you to go on a little adventure to unpack the enigma of smell.

We're going to explore how olfaction actually works, from our nose to our brain, how smell has been used to legally divide us, and finally, how harnessing our sense of smell and memory can make us all into time travelers. Coming up first, how we know what we know about the science of smell.

We're going to explore how olfaction actually works, from our nose to our brain, how smell has been used to legally divide us, and finally, how harnessing our sense of smell and memory can make us all into time travelers. Coming up first, how we know what we know about the science of smell.

We're going to explore how olfaction actually works, from our nose to our brain, how smell has been used to legally divide us, and finally, how harnessing our sense of smell and memory can make us all into time travelers. Coming up first, how we know what we know about the science of smell.

It's 1988, and a young scientist named Linda Buck is sitting in a laboratory at Columbia University, struggling to wrap her brain around a question.

It's 1988, and a young scientist named Linda Buck is sitting in a laboratory at Columbia University, struggling to wrap her brain around a question.

It's 1988, and a young scientist named Linda Buck is sitting in a laboratory at Columbia University, struggling to wrap her brain around a question.

This is Linda Buck's voice from an interview she did with the American Academy of Achievement. She sat at her desk in the lab, astonished by a simple reality. One of nature's elegant designs. One many of us take for granted. I know I did. Smell. Well, at that point in 1988, scientists didn't really understand it at all.

This is Linda Buck's voice from an interview she did with the American Academy of Achievement. She sat at her desk in the lab, astonished by a simple reality. One of nature's elegant designs. One many of us take for granted. I know I did. Smell. Well, at that point in 1988, scientists didn't really understand it at all.

This is Linda Buck's voice from an interview she did with the American Academy of Achievement. She sat at her desk in the lab, astonished by a simple reality. One of nature's elegant designs. One many of us take for granted. I know I did. Smell. Well, at that point in 1988, scientists didn't really understand it at all.

It may seem unbelievable, but scientists didn't understand exactly how the nose and brain were able to process and make sense of the wide range of chemicals we breathe in.

It may seem unbelievable, but scientists didn't understand exactly how the nose and brain were able to process and make sense of the wide range of chemicals we breathe in.

It may seem unbelievable, but scientists didn't understand exactly how the nose and brain were able to process and make sense of the wide range of chemicals we breathe in.

From that research bench at Columbia, Linda began her quest to understand how the sense of smell worked.

From that research bench at Columbia, Linda began her quest to understand how the sense of smell worked.

From that research bench at Columbia, Linda began her quest to understand how the sense of smell worked.

Linda, along with her mentor Richard Axel, invested much of her time in this research. Research that was not well-funded and largely ignored. And she passed on other job offers to study other topics along the way.

Linda, along with her mentor Richard Axel, invested much of her time in this research. Research that was not well-funded and largely ignored. And she passed on other job offers to study other topics along the way.

Linda, along with her mentor Richard Axel, invested much of her time in this research. Research that was not well-funded and largely ignored. And she passed on other job offers to study other topics along the way.