Yes, but there were also successful attempts. https://www.pnas.org/content/115/41/10305 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jafc.8b02212
1000 people not finding the right reason does not mean it does not exist, it just means they didn't find it. When somebody does find it, we don't say "we'll only listen to you when 1001 papers agree with you".