Genetics of Taste, Is it Hereditary?

Personally, I know for a fact through my own life experiences that I don't have the same taste buds as my parents. My dad loves spicy food and so do I, but he also loves radish. I hate radish, and I can barely stand the taste of horseradish when it compliments my Gefilte fish. So the question that still remains is: Are the genetics of taste hereditary?

Well let's think about this for a second. If the genetics of taste were hereditary, wouldn't that mean that I should have the same, if not similar taste buds to my parents? I think I should, and so should my brother, but we do not! I like a lot of things that my brother likes, but he has a much wider range of taste buds than I do, compliments of spending five months studying and traveling through Europe. He is cultured, a little more so than I, therefor I believe that upbringing and life experiences contribute to the expansion and acquisition of new taste buds.

It has been scientifically proven that humans show substantial differences in taste sensitivity to many different substances. Also, recent advances in the understanding of taste at the molecular level have provided candidate genes that can be evaluated for contributions to phenotypic differences in taste abilities. In other words, the more we can understand the molecular composition of taste buds, the more we will know about the genetic differences involved in distinguishing taste.

I believe that taste is somewhat hereditary in regards to upbringing, but not necessarily connected to our parents through genetics. As young children, our parents feed us based off of what they were brought up with, as well as, what our parents like to eat as well. If my parents hate McDonald's, they will most likely not feed me McDonald's. Do you catch my drift? Upbringing and life experiences are more important to developing a sense of taste than the genetics I acquire from my parents.

Challenge: I challenge all my followers to try taste something new, even though you may have tried it in the past and not liked it. You may be surprised at what you discover!

Ross