What if you could detect allergens even better, so that before you even put something in your mouth, you knew whether it was dangerous? And what if frogs could help you do it?
Those are the questions Jing-Ke Weng, a professor of chemistry, chemical biology and bioengineering at Northeastern University, tackled in a recent paper that sheds new light on frog biology –– and what it could mean for humans.
Weng and his team reveal that out of hundreds of animal species, amphibians, specifically frogs, have the highest number of bitter taste receptors, known as TAS2Rs. While humans have 25 TAS2Rs, mostly in the tongue but also in the gastrointestinal tract and even brain, a species like the wood frog has 248, nearly 10 times more, with some located in the liver and skin.
Weng says he hopes their findings –– attributed in part to an evolutionary adaptation –– could help scientists understand how humans detect similar signals, like allergens.
Read more from Northeastern Global News.
Courtesy photo.
