title: Solitary views of the stomach.
abstract: Technology has propelled gastric physiology and pathophysiology since 1825, the year when the French Academy of Science tried to attribute a prize to the best paper on digestive physiology. I have analyzed the contributions of Ismar Boas, as well as my personal experience in studying gastric mucosal permeability, gastric secretion, a vaccine directed against Helicobacter pylori and the metabolism of this pathogen. In addition, I have examined the interplay between sociopolitical events and research activities, the role of suppressed minorities in research, the falacies of falsification strategies, the dependence of valid results from unorthodox experimental approaches and creative elements. Some of the older gastric researchers expressed solitary views-an attitude which may have helped them to make novel and valid observations.
authors.affiliation: Département de Médecine Interne, Hôpital Cantonal Universitaire Vaudois Lausanne, Suisse.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Blum
mesh_terms: D000047:Academies and Institutes; D005060:Europe; D005602:France; D005762:Gastroenterology / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D012106:Research; D013270:Stomach / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology*