Transduction, the word and its meaning: one dictionary, different points of view

The expression signal transduction first made its mark in the biological literature in the 1970s1 and appeared as a title word in 1979.2–4 Physical

scientists and electronic engineers had earlier used the term to describe the conversion of energy or information from one form into another. For example, a microphone transduces sound waves into electrical signals. The widespread use of the term in bio-speak was triggered by an important review by Martin Rodbell, published in 1980 (Figure 1.1).5 He was the first to draw attention to the role of GTP and GTP-binding proteins in metabolic regulation and he deliberately borrowed the term to describe their role. By the year 2000, 12% of all papers using the term cell also employed the expression signal transduction.

Alfred G. Gilman and Martin Rodbell, awarded the Nobel Prize in 1994 ‘for their discovery of G-proteins and their role in signal transduction in cells’.