taste, cell & molecular biology

Odor, taste, and light receptors are present in many different parts of the body, and they have surprisingly diverse functions.

From the gut and airways to the blood, muscle, and skin, diverse sensory receptors are doing unconventional things.

Hummingbirds perceive sweetness through a receptor with which other vertebrates taste savory foods. 

Rodents and fruit flies appear to be able to sense nutrients even when they can’t taste the food they’re eating. Now, researchers are trying to figure out how.

At age 16, Alexandra Sourakov has her first scientific publication, on the foraging behavior of butterflies.

Japanese researchers unravel the mystery of miracle fruit.

The tongue may be the epicenter of taste sensation, but taste receptors are scattered throughout the digestive and respiratory tracts.

Compounds we perceive as sweet or bitter in the mouth trigger similar receptors and signaling pathways elsewhere in the body, helping to regulate digestion, respiration, and other systems.

Editor's choice in drug discovery