Humans can easily identify sweet-tasting foods—and with pleasure. However, many carnivorous animals lack this ability, and whether birds, descendants of meat-eating dinosaurs, can taste sweet was previously unclear. An ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 9, 2021
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1275
Coffee is very popular around the world despite or perhaps because of its bitter taste. Compounds contained in the coffee such as caffeine contribute to the bitterness to varying degrees. A recent study conducted by the Leibniz-Institute ...
Other
Jun 17, 2020
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10
Sugar isn't always sweet to German cockroaches, especially to the ones that avoid roach baits. In a study published May 24 in the journal Science, North Carolina State University entomologists show the neural mechanism behind ...
Plants & Animals
May 23, 2013
1
1
In most animals, taste has evolved to avoid all things bitter—-a key to survival—- to avoid eating something that could be poisonous via taste receptors, known as Tas2r, that quickly spring into action and elicit the ...
Biotechnology
Nov 18, 2013
0
0
Taste receptors for bitter substances are not only found on the tongue but also on cells outside the oral cavity. As a new study by the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich now ...
Evolution
Jul 3, 2023
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37
New research, published today in eLife, identified the neural circuit in the brain of the fruitfly (Drosophila melanogaster) that is responsible for detecting a taste pheromone, which controls the decision of male flies to ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 7, 2015
0
426
A team of scientists headed by Maik Behrens from the Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich has identified the receptor responsible for the bitter taste of various salts. These include ...
Biochemistry
Apr 9, 2019
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11
Fire up the citronella-scented tiki torches, and slather on the DEET: Everybody knows these simple precautions repel insects, notably mosquitoes, whose bites not only itch and irritate, but also transmit diseases such as ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 25, 2010
1
0
The first complete map of the ants' olfactory system has discovered that the eusocial insects have four to fives more odorant receptors—the special proteins that detect different odors—than other insects.
Plants & Animals
Sep 10, 2012
0
0
Researchers from the Monell Center report that the red panda is the first non-primate mammal to display a liking for the artificial sweetener aspartame. This unexpected affinity for an artificial sweetener may reflect structural ...
Other
Apr 15, 2009
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0
