ReviewEvolution, medicine, and public health2021
Bitter taste receptors: Genes, evolution and health.
Review in Evolution, medicine, and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Poor-tasting pediatric medicines: Part 1. A scoping review of their impact on patient acceptability, medication adherence, and treatment outcomes.Frontiers in drug delivery · 2025Pooled it
- The Association Between Neurocognitive Disorders and Gustatory Dysfunction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychology review · 2024Pooled it
- GengricinInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Trial
- Denatonium inFood chemistry: X · 2026Article
- Taste Modulation by Umami Compounds: Mechanisms, Sensor-Based Evaluation, and Pharmaceutical Applications in Bitterness Suppression.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Bitter Compounds in Medicinal Food Plants Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine: Analysis and Regulation Strategies from Chemical Structure to Perception Mechanisms.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Establishing Murine Intestinal Organoids to Study Nutrient- and Tastant-Evoked Gut Signaling.Nutrients · 2026Article
- A homoeriodictyol sodium mouthwash reduces bitterness sensitivity in patients with gynecological cancer receiving carboplatin-based chemotherapy.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Activation of Extraoral Bitter Taste Receptors by Herbs and Spices in the Regulation of Incretin Signaling and Glucose Metabolism.Nutrition reviews · 2026Review
- Western Diet Downregulates Hepatic Bitter Taste Receptors: Potential Link to Altered Lipid Metabolism.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2026Article
- Exploratory Genome-Wide Association Study of Grapefruit Intake and Its Potential Link to Obesity Risk in US Cohorts.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Neuropeptide Y and peptide YY differentially modulate bitter- and fatty acid-evoked responses in human fungiform taste bud cells.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2026Article
- Genome-wide association studies identify new candidate genes and tissues underlying resistance to a natural toxin in drosophilids.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
- TheGenes · 2026Article
- Bitter Taste Perception in BaYaka Hunter-Gatherers.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2026Article
- Dietary responses of taste receptor genes to plant-based diets in farmed fish: A literature review.Open veterinary journal · 2026Review
- Sensory signaling mediates the systemic metabolic and neurological effects of epigallocatechin gallate.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Cell surface localization of receptors considered nonfunctional and orphan bitter taste receptors.Current research in food science · 2026Article
- Targeting the "bitterness gene" by genome editing abolishes synthesis of bitter flavanones in citrus; prospects for new varieties and extended climates for cultivation.The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology · 2025Article
- The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2025/26: G protein-coupled receptors.British journal of pharmacology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Bitter taste perception plays vital roles in animal behavior and fitness. By signaling the presence of toxins in foods, particularly noxious defense compounds found in plants, it enables animals to avoid exposure. In vertebrates, bitter perception is initiated by TAS2Rs, a family of G protein-coupled receptors expressed on the surface of taste buds. There, oriented toward the interior of the mouth, they monitor the contents of foods, drinks and other substances as they are ingested. When bitter compounds are encountered, TAS2Rs respond by triggering neural pathways leading to sensation. The importance of this role placed TAS2Rs under selective pressures in the course of their evolution, leaving signatures in patterns of gene gain and loss, sequence polymorphism, and population structure consistent with vertebrates' diverse feeding ecologies. The protective value of bitter taste is reduced in modern humans because contemporary food supplies are safe and abundant. However, this is not always the case. Some crops, particularly in the developing world, retain surprisingly high toxicity and bitterness remains an important measure of safety. Bitter perception also shapes health through its influence on preference driven behaviors such as diet choice, alcohol intake and tobacco use. Further, allelic variation in
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.