Although its discovery occurred 20 years before kinesin, its large size hampered its isolation; research about it was relatively scarce at the time, and was mainly performed by Gibbons and his team.
Walaupun ditemukan 20 tahun sebelum kinesin, ukurannya yang besar menghambat isolasi; penelitian mengenai protein ini relatif jarang pada saat itu, dan terutama dilakukan oleh Gibbons dan timnya.