Taste Receptor News and Research

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Scientists help uncover evolutionary history of TAS2R38 bitter taste receptor gene

Long the bane of picky eaters everywhere, broccoli's taste is not just a matter of having a cultured palate; some people can easily taste a bitter compound in the vegetable that others have difficulty detecting. Now a team of Penn researchers has helped uncover the evolutionary history of one of the genes responsible for this trait.

7 Dec 2011

AAO-HNSF's 2011 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO to convene in San Francisco

The 2011 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF), the largest meeting of ear, nose, and throat doctors in the world, will convene September 11-14, 2011, in San Francisco, CA.

29 Aug 2011

Senomyx second quarter revenues increase 23% to $7.0 million

Senomyx, Inc., a company focused on using proprietary taste receptor-based technologies to discover novel flavor ingredients for the food, beverage, and ingredient supply industries, today provided a corporate update and reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011.

5 Aug 2011

Senomyx first-quarter 2011 revenues rise up 13%

30 Apr 2011

One in ten Aussie kids unable to perceive the tastes of food

The prevalence of taste disorders in Australian children could be three times above the level defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a major public health crisis, new research has found.

17 Apr 2011

People insensitive to quinine's bitter taste may have varied absorption, metabolization capabilities: Study

Some people find quinine to be bitter while others can drink it like water. Now, scientists from the Monell Center and collaborators report that individual differences in how people experience quinine's bitterness are related to underlying differences in their genes.The findings, published online in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, demonstrate that genetic variation in regions of DNA that encode bitter taste receptors predicts a person's perception of bitterness from quinine.

3 Aug 2010

Hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels may influence sensitivity to sweet-tasting foods: Study

A hormone that helps to regulate blood sugar levels may also influence a person's sensitivity to sweet-tasting foods, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. They found that blocking the tongue's ability to respond to the hormone known as glucagon decreases the taste system's sensitivity to sweetness.

16 Jun 2010

Researchers discover bitter taste inhibitor

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 targets and inhibits a handful of human bitter taste receptors, according to a report published online on May 27th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

28 May 2010

Bacteria may play wider role in people predisposed to obesity: Researchers

Bacteria may play more of a role in people predisposed to obesity than previously thought, according to studies presented today by University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers at the 110th general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego.

27 May 2010

Exposure to dust after WTC collapse impairs ability to detect odors and sense irritants

Individuals involved in rescue, recovery, demolition, and clean-up after the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster on September 11, 2001, were exposed to a complex mixture of airborne smoke, dust, combustion gases, acid mists, and metal fumes. The impact of this exposure on responders' upper and lower respiratory function has been well documented, but little is known about its impact on their sensitivity to odor and irritants.

19 Apr 2010

700 scientists to present new information on smell and taste at AChemS 32nd annual meeting

The Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS), a US-based scientific organization, is holding its 32nd annual meeting. About 700 scientists are gathering to present new information on the role of smell and taste in disease, nutrition and social interactions in humans as well as animals. Smell and taste play essential roles in our daily lives. These chemical senses serve as important warning systems, alerting us to the presence of potentially harmful situations or substances, including gas leaks, smoke, and spoiled food.

17 Apr 2010

Senomyx prices common stock offering at $2.80 per share

Senomyx, Inc. announced today the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 7,142,857 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $2.80 per share. The gross proceeds from the sale of the shares, before underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses, are expected to be approximately $20.0 million. The offering is expected to close on or about February 18, 2010, subject to customary closing conditions. Senomyx has also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an aggregate of 1,071,428 additional shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any.

15 Feb 2010

Endocannabinoid modulation of sweet taste receptors may help control feeding behavior

Sweet taste responses were enhanced by endocannabinoids in every case. The effect was specific for sweet taste, as endocannibinoids had no effect on responses to sour, salty, bitter or umami taste stimuli.

22 Dec 2009

FEMA finds Senomyx' S6973 sucrose enhancer safe

Senomyx, Inc., a leading company focused on using proprietary technologies to discover and develop novel flavor ingredients for the food, beverage and ingredient supply industries, announced today that it has been notified by the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) that its sucrose enhancer, S6973, has been determined to be Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) under the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, administered by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

24 Oct 2009

Compounds that bock nutrient-sensing receptor may impact obesity and diabetic conditions

According to new research from the Monell Center and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, certain common herbicides and lipid-lowering fibrate drugs act in humans to block T1R3, a nutrient-sensing taste receptor also present in intestine and pancreas.

12 Oct 2009

Airway cells are chemosensory

The same mechanism that helps you detect bad-tasting and potentially poisonous foods may also play a role in protecting your airway from harmful substances, according to a study by scientists at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.

24 Jul 2009

Researchers learn some of nicotine's secrets

Duke University Medical System researchers have discovered there are differing taste pathways for nicotine, which could provide a new approach for future smoking-cessation products.

23 Jan 2009

The brain can sense the calories in food, independent of taste

Their finding that the brain's reward system is switched on by this “sixth sense” machinery could have implications for understanding the causes of obesity. For example, the findings suggest why high-fructose corn syrup, widely used as a sweetener in foods, might contribute to obesity.

28 Mar 2008

Reducing kids' salt intake may lower soft drink consumption

Children who eat less salt drink fewer sugar-sweetened soft drinks and may significantly lower their risks for obesity, elevated blood pressure and later-in-life heart attack and stroke, researchers reported in the print and online issue of Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

21 Feb 2008

Food peptides activate bitter taste receptors

Researchers from the Monell Center and Tokyo University of Agriculture have used a novel molecular method to identify chemical compounds from common foods that activate human bitter taste receptors.

23 Jan 2008