Q 01/05

Which popular household pets cannot taste sweetness at all because a gene for their sweet receptor is broken?

A) Cats

B) Dogs

C) Rabbits

D) Hamsters

Answer · why

A) Cats

Cats cannot detect sweetness because the gene T1R2 has decayed into a non-working pseudogene. Vampire bats share the same loss.

Q 02/05

Which West African fruit makes lemons and other sour foods taste sweet for a while after it is chewed?

A) Monk fruit

B) Miracle berry

C) Serendipity berry

D) Star apple

Answer · why

B) Miracle berry

Miracle berry contains miraculin, a molecule that binds to the taste buds and makes sour foods register as sweet. A European explorer saw West African...

Q 03/05

Which leafy herb tastes like soap to some people because of variations in an odour-receptor gene called OR6A2?

A) Parsley

B) Basil

C) Cilantro

D) Tarragon

Answer · why

C) Cilantro

Cilantro, the leaf of the coriander plant, tastes soapy or rotten to people whose OR6A2 receptor is highly sensitive to the aldehydes in the leaves.

Q 04/05

Which insects taste a leaf with sensors on their feet before deciding whether to lay eggs on it?

A) Dragonflies

B) Grasshoppers

C) Ladybirds

D) Butterflies

Answer · why

D) Butterflies

Butterflies carry contact chemoreceptors on their feet, so a female can check that a leaf will feed her caterpillars before she lays eggs on it.

Q 05/05

Which drink is a favourite of airline passengers, perhaps because loud, pressurised cabins change how things taste?

A) Lemonade

B) Apple juice

C) Sparkling water

D) Tomato juice

Answer · why

D) Tomato juice

Tomato juice is a popular order in the air, and a small study by Yan and Dando hints that cabin noise and pressure heighten the perception of savoury ...