This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on ISI (2)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA

Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2000;283:1950.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Scientists from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) and Howard Hughes Medicine Institute researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have identified a family of as many as 80 genes that perform the same function: to allow people to detect whether a substance has a bitter flavor. Each of the genes encodes a different taste receptor that allows humans to identify a wide range of bitter compounds.

Having such a large family of bitter-receptors makes evolutionary sense. Because bitter flavors in nature often signal that a substance is poisonous, being able to recognize a wide range of natural poisons has obvious survival value.

Knowing the molecular structure of bitter-receptors may help scientists develop bitter-blockers, substances that could modify an individual's perception of taste to counteract bitter flavors in various medications and foods.

The new findings were published in the March 17 issue of . . . [Full Text of this Article]