Last week, I posted
a link to a story on the Atlantic, all about the history of research into supertasters — humans with the ability to taste a bitter compound called phenylthiocarbamide. It's a big part of why some people can't stand the taste of broccoli, and others love it. But that one piece isn't the full story. According to taste geneticist Stephen Wooding, it wasn't even totally accurate. Instead, he suggested three articles that anybody curious about supertasting should read. First,
a history of the science that he wrote for the journal Genetics. Second, a long read by Cathryn Delude about
research that might, someday, make broccoli delicious for everybody. And a University of Utah site that
explains the genetics of taste.
— Maggie
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Supertasters are seemingly normal humans who have more bumps on their tongues — a difference that allows them to taste more intensely than average people and (as a side effect) to detect bitter flavors that most of us miss.
And they were discovered by accident, when one scientists could taste the chemical dust released in his laboratory and his colleague could not.
— Maggie
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