Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda first proposed umami as a basic taste—in addition to sweet, sour, salty and bitter—in the early 1900s. About eight decades later, the scientific community officially agreed with him.
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 5, 2023
1
393
Evolution is a tinkerer, not an engineer. "Evolution does not produce novelties from scratch. It works with what already exists," wrote Nobel laureate François Jacob in 1977, and biologists continue to find this to be true.
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 3, 2020
0
329
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. has found that a certain type of bacteria produces compounds that cause sweet taste receptors in the sinuses to activate—this in turn shuts ...
Everything about hummingbirds is rapid. An iridescent blur to the human eye, their movements can be captured with clarity only by high-speed video.
Evolution
Aug 21, 2014
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0
Researchers are exploring new pathways into digital taste. "Instead of just looking at a cake on your screen, you can taste it." And so begins the conversation in a rather startling video that shows a man licking a cake on ...
A University of Michigan-led study of penguin genetics has concluded that the flightless aquatic birds lost three of the five basic vertebrate tastes—sweet, bitter and the savory, meaty taste known as umami—more than ...
Biotechnology
Feb 16, 2015
1
484
The perception of taste is one of the most important senses and helps us identify beneficial foods and avoid harmful substances. For instance, our fondness for sweet and savory foods results from our need to consume carbohydrates ...
Evolution
Dec 29, 2023
0
133
One key to animal survival is bitter taste——the better to avoid ingesting potentially harmful poisons or foods. The evolution of bitter taste has been a hot topic amongst evolutionary biologists, and with more and more ...
Evolution
Oct 8, 2014
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0
Researchers have discovered a chemical that specifically blocks people's ability to detect the bitter aftertaste that comes with artificial sweeteners such as saccharin. The key is a molecule known only as GIV3727 that specifically ...
Biochemistry
May 27, 2010
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97
For all their sharp teeth, many meat-eating mammals lack a sweet tooth, a genetic analysis of a dozen species has shown.
Plants & Animals
Mar 26, 2012
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0
