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Sweet, Salt, Bitter, Sour - They Ain't The Half Of It
Biology concepts – umami, taste, flavor, gustation, glutamate, chemoreception, CD36, fat taste, water receptor, calciumPerhaps I was a little hasty when I said umami wasn’t the name of a new band....
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Cats Don’t Taste Sweet, But Dogs Taste Salty
Biology concepts – gustatory sense, taste receptors, supertasters We have discussed recently the reasons organisms taste their food are related to nutritional needs (sweet, umami, salt, fat) and...
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Tasting With Every Part Of Your Body
Biology concepts – taste sensation, non-lingual taste receptors, solitary chemoreceptor cells Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) goes by many names, like goya, kalera, etc. It is native to the...
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Who Tastes Best?
Biology concepts – taste/gustation, aposematism, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, Jacobson’s organ, palatal organ, parasiteWhat animal do you think has the most taste buds? There are bunches of animals...
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Strange Insect Tastes
Biology concepts – sensilla, uniporous sensilla, gustatory receptor, RNA world hypothesis Chalcanthite (copper containing) is used in traditional medicines, even though it is toxic. Recent study shows...
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Taste And Be Tasted – Fair Is Fair
Biology concepts – metamerism, tagmentizaton, taste, arthropods, receptor, parasitismCarbonated sodas come in all flavors, but across all cultures, it is the carbonation that is the same. Mauby is a...
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Are Chilies Spicy, Hot, Or Piquant?
Biology concepts – fruit, spice, capsaicin, Scoville heat units, TRPV1 heat sensor, taste, true berryPreface: I had intended on finishing our series on taste sense with a single post on how spicy foods...
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Maybe We Do Taste The Burn
Biology concepts – capsaicin, TRPV1, heat sensing, thermoregulation, taste, ligandEating spicy food can seem like having fire in your mouth. Interestingly enough, some people do that. Fire eaters do...
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Naked Mole Rats Don’t Feel The Burn
Biology concepts – thermoregulation, heat sensing, TRPV1, evolution, neurotransmitters, birds, ectothermy, diet-induced thermogenesisBBC television has a very nice Sherlock Holmes show running...
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It’s Not Just Chili Peppers That Are Hot
Biology concepts – cinnamaldehyde, nasal hyperreactivity, piperine, allyl isothiocyanate, eugenol, gingerol, tinyatoxin, osmotic stress, agonist/antagonistThe last few years have seen the rise and fall...
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Capsaicin – Adding To Or Taking Your Pain
Biology concepts – hyperalgesia, allodynia, analgesia, sensitization, potentiation, desensitization, habituation, burning mouth syndromeApparently this is how people shovel snow in the cold climates. I...
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Using Pain To Stop Pain
Biology concepts – desensitization, habituation, counter irritation, cautery, heat sensing, pain, chronic, acute, analgesiaGout usually attacks middle-aged men and the big toe joint is a favorite spot....
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Chili Peppers Run Hot And Cold
Biology concepts – obesity, brown adipose tissue, agonist/antagonist, protective hypothermia, hyperthermia, reactive oxygen species, ischemia, hypoxiaWhen The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939, it just...
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Capsaicin Receptors – Matters Of Life And Death
Biology concepts – cochlear amplification, capsaicin, tinnitus, neural plasticity, long term depression, sperm capacitation, acrosome reaction, apoptosis, reactive oxygen species, cancerOn the left are...
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Everybody Wants To Be Cool
Biology concepts – TRPM8 cold sensor, menthol, evolution, cold pleasure The old ads for menthol cigarettes are fascinating, from a biologypoint of view. The “cool” and the “refreshing” aspects were...
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Cold Keeps You Warm
Biology concepts – thermoregulation, TRPM8, vasoconstriction, brown adipose tissue, agonists/antagonistsPep-O Mint was the first Lifesaver flavor, invented in 1912. This was followed quickly by the...
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The Cold Cure All
Biology concepts – thermoregulation, TRPM8, TRPV1, heat sensing, cool sensing, vasoconstriction, nasal resistance, viral coldThe common cold. The red nose is from irritation from tissue and...
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Cold Receptors Come In From The Cold
Biology concepts – thermosensing, cool sensing, allergy, cross-reactivity, cold allergy, sperm maturation, acrosome reaction, opiate withdrawalYou can be allergic to things that touch your skin – like...
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It’s Not Just Chili Peppers That Are Hot
Biology concepts – cinnamaldehyde, nasal hyperreactivity, piperine, allyl isothiocyanate, eugenol, gingerol, tinyatoxin, osmotic stress, agonist/antagonistThe last few years have seen the rise and fall...
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Sometimes, Cold Hurts
Biology concepts – nature of science, TRPA1, thermoregulation, noxious sensor, chemical sensor, mutation, protein domains"As we acquire more knowledge, things do not become more comprehensible, but...
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