Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Evolution: A Study in Bad Taste?
Love the taste of Brussels sprouts? No, me either, but the ability to taste or not taste bitter foods may have played a role in human evolution and that might account for why some of us (Mrs. RSR) love those bitter little cabbages and others of us loathe them.
Science Daily has a report on Dr. Stephen Wooding, a population geneticist, who studies how variations in our genes give rise to variations in traits among a given human population. Some traits, such as bitter-taste receptors on the tongue, help us to tell the difference between such awful fare as Brussels sprouts and all wonderful stuff like chocolate cake.
Update: Doc Bill teaches the controversy at 12 Tu Tu Fondue, but I'm not sure he's made a believer out of me yet.
Science Daily has a report on Dr. Stephen Wooding, a population geneticist, who studies how variations in our genes give rise to variations in traits among a given human population. Some traits, such as bitter-taste receptors on the tongue, help us to tell the difference between such awful fare as Brussels sprouts and all wonderful stuff like chocolate cake.
Update: Doc Bill teaches the controversy at 12 Tu Tu Fondue, but I'm not sure he's made a believer out of me yet.
