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Review
. 2010:94:213-40.
doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-375003-7.00008-X.

Genetics of taste and smell: poisons and pleasures

Affiliations
Review

Genetics of taste and smell: poisons and pleasures

Danielle Renee Reed et al. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 2010.

Abstract

Eating is dangerous. While food contains nutrients and calories that animals need to produce heat and energy, it may also contain harmful parasites, bacteria, or chemicals. To guide food selection, the senses of taste and smell have evolved to alert us to the bitter taste of poisons and the sour taste and off-putting smell of spoiled foods. These sensory systems help people and animals to eat defensively, and they provide the brake that helps them avoid ingesting foods that are harmful. But choices about which foods to eat are motivated by more than avoiding the bad; they are also motivated by seeking the good, such as fat and sugar. However, just as not everyone is equally capable of sensing toxins in food, not everyone is equally enthusiastic about consuming high-fat, high-sugar foods. Genetic studies in humans and experimental animals strongly suggest that the liking of sugar and fat is influenced by genotype; likewise, the abilities to detect bitterness and the malodors of rotting food are highly variable among individuals. Understanding the exact genes and genetic differences that affect food intake may provide important clues in obesity treatment by allowing caregivers to tailor dietary recommendations to the chemosensory landscape of each person.

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Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Example of how taste and smell genotypes may contribute to the perception of common foods. A ham and cheese sandwich contains bread, onion, tomato, watercress, cheese, and ham. The low concentrations of sucrose in the onion will be detected by sweet receptors on the tongue, heterodimers of TAS1R2 and TAS1R3. The glutamate in the tomato, perceived as a savory or umami taste, is sensed by the umami receptor, which is a heterodimer of TAS1R1 and TAS1R3. The bitterness of watercress is due to isothiocyantes (or structurally related compounds) and is detected by one or more bitter receptors (i.e., TAS2R38). Isovaleric acid is a component of cheese and gives it a characteristic odor that some people call “sweaty.” This chemical stimulates at least one olfactory receptor, OR11H7. Ham can contain androstenone, which gives the meat an odor called boar taint. Some people perceive this odor as offensive, and the receptor associated with this compound is OR7D4. In this example, people with two positive alleles (+/+) perceive the compound better than people with two negative alleles (−/−). Person 1 can taste the pleasant sweetness of the onion and the umami of the tomato but does not perceive the bitterness of the watercress or the unpleasant odors of the cheese or ham. Thus, Person 1 likes the ham sandwich more than Person 2.

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