Biochemist Lubert Stryer founded Senomyx in
1999. In May 2001, Stryer returned to his
professorship at Stanford University and
resigned from Senomyx, but continued to be
the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board,

Around the year 2001, Senomyx patented
several flavor enhancers by using "proprietary
taste receptor-based assay systems", which
have been previously expressed in human cell
culture, in HEK293 cells. [2] HEK293 cells are a
cell line widely used in biological and medical
research, immortalized through a genetic
modification removed from the original
embryonic kidney cells in the early 1970s.