“Until now, it was not clear if there was a genetic basis for food preference” Mattia Balsamini/Luz Photo
Before your Silk Road expedition, what did we know about the evolution of tastes?
We knew that there are groups of genes that respectively regulate the receptors for bitter, sweet, salty, sour and umami taste. We knew that those who have a particular variant of a gene called TAS2R38 taste bitterness more strongly than those who do not have it, for example. And we knew that some of these differences are transmitted from parents to children along genetic lines.
But there is…
