T2R Bitter Taste Receptors In Humans

Transcript

With these bitter taste receptors (or T2R bitter taste receptors) one of their byproducts or the side effects of them is the perception of bitter taste. Now, this is much more important in rats and rodents who are smelling things because it warns them before they take it on not to eat it. We don’t use that as much, but we still produce them on the level of maybe one in a hundred of what rats do. And so whenever it’s stimulated, we do still perceive it as a bitter perception or a bitter taste, but that’s actually just sort of a side product of it. Where it’s actually important in us is as part of the innate immune system, which helps prevent us from getting upper respiratory effects.