Latest Monell Chemical Senses Center Stories

Similarities highlight environment's role in shaping evolution of taste preferencesAccording to researchers at the Monell Center, fruit flies are more like humans in their responses to many sweet tastes than are almost any other species. The diverse range of molecules that humans experience as sweet do not necessarily taste sweet to other species. For example, aspartame, a sweetener used by humans, does not taste sweet to rats and mice. However, fruit flies respond positively to most...

Primer describes current understanding of human taste perception and biologyDespite the significance of taste to both human gratification and survival, a basic understanding of this primal sense is still unfolding. Taste provides both pleasure and protection. Often taken for granted, the sense of taste evaluates everything humans put into their mouths. Taste mediates recognition of a substance and the final decision process before it is either swallowed and taken into the body, or rejected as...

Obesity quick fix unlikely; problem even more complex than previously thoughtPHILADELPHIA "“ Reporting in the online journal BMC Genetics, researchers from the Monell Center have for the first time attempted to count the number of genes that contribute to obesity and body weight. The findings suggest that over 6,000 genes "“ about 25 percent of the genome "“ help determine an individual's body weight. "Reports describing the discovery of a new "˜obesity gene' have become common in the...

By Tom Avril, The Philadelphia Inquirer Apr. 9--George Preti didn't go to medical school. He is a Ph.D. organic chemist, his lab stocked with gas chromatography equipment and test tubes. He has data to analyze and three post-docs to supervise, and he faces that familiar problem of the modern scientist: Grant money is running low. Yet once every week or two, he squeezes in time for a money-losing venture. For a nominal fee, he meets with people who have come to his Philadelphia lab from all...

A new study from the Monell Chemical Senses Center may shed light on why some people like salt more than others. The results suggest that a person's liking for salty taste may be related to how much they weighed when they were born. In a paper published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the Monell researchers report that individual differences in salty taste acceptance by two-month old infants are inversely related to birth weight: lighter birth weight infants show greater...

Compound in it imitates activity of ibuprofen, researchers sayA chance tasting at a scientific meeting in Sicily has led to another reason for including olive oil in your diet.The pungent liquid turns out to contain a compound that has the same molecular action as ibuprofen, the widely used painkiller, researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia report in the Sept. 1 issue of Nature.And that similarity means that olive oil may offer the same health benefits as low-dose...

In WASHINGTON story of July 25 headlined "Why cats will never live the sweet life," please read in fourth paragraph ... Xia Li, a molecular geneticist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, a nonprofit research institute in Philadelphia, who helped lead the study ... instead of ... Xia Li, a molecular geneticist at Cornell University in New York, who helped lead the study ... WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cats may like ice cream, but it is not the sugary taste that appeals to them because they are...

WASHINGTON -- Cats may like ice cream, but it is not the sugary taste that appeals to them because they are genetically unable to taste sweet flavors, researchers reported on Monday.Domestic cats and big cats alike have a slightly different version of the sweet receptor gene than other mammals, the British and U.S. scientists found.Any cat owner knows that cats have individual preferences, but cats will turn their noses up at sugary treats that do not contain some other ingredient such as...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Cats are notoriously finicky eaters, as millions of pet owners can attest. Now, there's a scientific theory explaining, at least in part, why cats have such snobby eating habits: genetics. Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia and their collaborators said Sunday they found a dysfunctional feline gene that probably prevents cats from tasting sweets, a sensation nearly every other mammal on the planet experiences to varying degrees. Researchers took...

Bitter-tasting foods a tough, but necessary, sell for these youngstersHealthDay News -- If you couldn't get enough of sweets when you were young, chances are your child will share your palate's passion.That's because your taste preferences are, at least in part, influenced by your genes. However, age and culture can eventually override this genetic influence, a new study finds.And that means kids who steer clear of vegetables may warm to them in a few years.Building off the recent discovery...