How Breakthroughs Happen: Eric Trinquet on Innovation, Serendipity & GPCRs
- Dr. GPCR Podcast
- Oct 16
- 4 min read
Most scientists are taught to aim for precision and control. But what if that mindset blocks the very breakthroughs we seek?
Dr. Eric Trinquet, a veteran innovator behind functional GPCR assays like HTRF and IP-One, believes rigid thinking is the enemy of discovery. In this podcast, he lays out the mindset that helped shape products used across biotech and academia—and why play, failure, and surprise are not risks to manage, but fuel to harness.
If you’re building tools or careers in GPCR science, this is your playbook.
The Innovation Trap: Why Most Scientists Think Too Narrowly
Eric doesn’t mince words: many junior scientists don’t give themselves permission to explore. They think too narrowly, focus too early, and equate unexpected results with failure. This mindset, he argues, suffocates innovation.
He knows the cost firsthand. “You can try, try, try—and fail, fail, fail,” Eric says. But those failures are where new paths emerge, often leading to transformative tools like the IP1 assay and Tag-lite.
Instead of chasing linear progress, Eric encourages young scientists to stay playful longer—embracing both strategy and serendipity.
A Quote That Stuck:
“Be rigorous, but not too much. Frame your strategy, then let the serendipity occur.” — Dr. Eric Trinquet
Built to Fail, Built to Win: Inside the IP1 Assay Origin Story
The IP-One assay didn’t emerge from a master plan. It began with an unmet need: how to track Gq-coupled GPCR activity without the mess of calcium flux or radioactive columns.
Eric and his team rejected the calcium route entirely. Instead, they focused on equilibrium-based assays and zeroed in on IP1 accumulation—pioneering a clean, high-throughput alternative.
The real challenge? Convincing the field it worked. It took data, yes—but also a deep partnership with GPCR legend Terry Kenakin to bridge industry credibility with pharmacological rigor.
Why This Matters:
IP-One helped set a new gold standard for functional GPCR assays—shifting how compounds are evaluated for efficacy and bias.
The pHSense Breakthrough: Two Dimensions of Discovery
pHSense wasn’t built in a vacuum—it was born from decades of groundwork in rare earth chemistry and a “what if” mentality.
Originally developed as ultra-bright lanthanide probes, the team realized they could tune these molecules to become exquisitely sensitive to pH changes. The innovation? Dual control: not just brightness but fluorescence lifetime, with drastic shifts as pH drops.
That opened the door to something rare in functional pharmacology: plate-based GPCR internalization tracking that rivals (and sometimes beats) imaging or flow cytometry.
Mini Timeline
🎯 Early 2000s: Trinquet leads IP1 & Tag-lite development
🧪 Mid-2010s: Rare-earth scaffold work begins
🔬 2023: pHSense probes optimized for dual pH response
✅ 2024: Endogenous GLP-1 internalization shown in beta cells
🚀 2025: Revvity launches pHSense
A Day That Changed Everything: The Endogenous Receptor “Aha”
Eric’s second “aha” moment with pHSense came the day his team showed internalization of endogenous GLP-1 receptors in rat beta cells—with no overexpression, no imaging, and no pharmacological interference.
“We did a full dose-response and saw antagonism—all in one plate-based assay. That’s the day I knew we had something no one else had.”
That result wasn’t just a technical win. It validated the broader goal: giving scientists tools to study receptors in their native, unmodified state—unlocking new questions about constitutive activity, agonist-induced internalization, and cellular dynamics.
🔄 What Changed After This Data:
Trinquet pushed pHSense toward rapid commercialization—pivoting it from a research probe into a full product line.
From Theory to Tool: How Great Products Get Built
pHSense didn’t materialize overnight. It’s the product of layered collaborations—with Durham University chemist David Parker on the probe chemistry, and with Jean-Philippe Pin’s team in Montpellier to validate biological performance.
Eric is clear: real innovation requires real partnerships.
It also requires months—often years—of decisions, missteps, and refinements. From probe solubility to photophysics, from tag strategies to model systems, every variable was debated, tested, and validated.
For Early-Career Scientists:
Don’t confuse “final product” with overnight success. The catalog number is the last step in a years-long journey filled with messy iterations.
Advice for the Next Generation: Don’t Over-Rationalize
So what does Eric tell young scientists who want to build breakthrough products?
“Don’t over-rationalize,” he says. At early stages, breadth matters more than precision. Cast a wide net. Follow anomalies. Build theories, but be ready to toss them.
It’s a mindset shaped by decades in the lab—but it’s also a warning. Product development isn’t just about science. It’s about timing, teaming, testing, and failing smarter.
🚀 Why This Matters:
Whether you’re launching a tool, starting a biotech, or running an academic lab—your mindset, not just your science, will determine what gets built.
Want to hear Dr. Trinquet tell the story in his own words?
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