Whereas humans have one receptor on their tongues that can detect all sorts of sweet things, from real sugar to artificial sweeteners like aspartame, insects have many receptors that each detect specific types of sugars. ...
Epigenetics, the chemical mechanisms that control the activity of genes, allows our cells, tissues and organs to adapt to the changing circumstances of the environment around us. This advantage can become a drawback, though, ...
Perfect noncaloric replacements for sugar and high fructose corn syrup just don't exist yet. For example, some alternatives have a lingering sweet aftertaste and lack a sugar-like mouthfeel, leaving consumers unsatisfied. ...
Americans' love affair with sugar can be a deadly attraction that sometimes leads to major health problems, including obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Would that ice-cold bottle of soda taste as refreshing, knowing that it contains 65 grams (5 tablespoons) of added sugar? With a new U.S. food-labeling policy set to kick in, public health groups are banking on the answer ...
New research from Washington University in St. Louis reveals the molecular machinery behind the high-intensity sweetness of the stevia plant. The results could be used to engineer new non-caloric products without the aftertaste ...
One of the biggest challenges facing synthetic chemists is how to make molecules of only a particular "handedness." Molecules can come in two shapes that mirror each other, just like our left and right hands. This characteristic, ...
Scientists around the world are pursuing the goal of developing synthetic receptors capable of recognizing biologically important molecules. Although many attempts have been made to mimic the way that protein pockets detect ...
Many things in the natural world are geometrically chiral, meaning they cannot be superimposed onto their mirror image. Think hands—right and left hands are mirror images but if you transplanted a right hand onto a left, ...
We are routinely warned by earnest websites, advertisments and well-meaning popular articles about nasty "chemicals" lurking in our homes and kitchens. Many tout the benefits of switching to a "chemical-free lifestyle".
