(no subject)
Taste for G&T is all in the genes
By Mark Henderson
THE secret of why human beings have a taste for gin and tonic while chimpanzees do not may lie in the genes.
Scientists have discovered that genes governing the taste of bitterness are subtly different in people and their closest animal relatives.
The findings, by the Nestlé Research Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland, suggest that the sense of taste is an adaptation that can evolve relatively quickly to help animals to find nutritious food and avoid poisons.
A series of genes known as the T2R receptors are important to tasting bitterness and are found in common chimpanzees and bonobos. The scientists compared the chimpanzees’ versions with those in humans and found subtle differences in the DNA sequences that make up some of them. This suggests that the animals perceive bitterness in a slightly different way from human beings.
By Mark Henderson
THE secret of why human beings have a taste for gin and tonic while chimpanzees do not may lie in the genes.
Scientists have discovered that genes governing the taste of bitterness are subtly different in people and their closest animal relatives.
The findings, by the Nestlé Research Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland, suggest that the sense of taste is an adaptation that can evolve relatively quickly to help animals to find nutritious food and avoid poisons.
A series of genes known as the T2R receptors are important to tasting bitterness and are found in common chimpanzees and bonobos. The scientists compared the chimpanzees’ versions with those in humans and found subtle differences in the DNA sequences that make up some of them. This suggests that the animals perceive bitterness in a slightly different way from human beings.