kwik_e_mart
03-04-2005, 01:12 AM
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1304737.html?menu=
Germans discover a cabbage-loving gene
Germans love for cabbage may be down to their genes.
Cabbage, which is the main ingredient in saurkraut, is eaten in Germany in vast quantities.
Scientists at the German Institute for Food Research in Potsdam near Berlin have found a genetic reason to love cabbage in the form of taste gene hTAS2R38.
They say the gene - which they believe most Germans have -makes some people extraordinarily sensitive to the bitter substances phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and propylthiouracil (PROP) present in large quantities in cabbage.
"The variations of a single gene therefore affect a person's eating habits," said Wolfgang Meyerhof, who led the research team.
The institute said the research was being published in the journal Current Biology.
Germans discover a cabbage-loving gene
Germans love for cabbage may be down to their genes.
Cabbage, which is the main ingredient in saurkraut, is eaten in Germany in vast quantities.
Scientists at the German Institute for Food Research in Potsdam near Berlin have found a genetic reason to love cabbage in the form of taste gene hTAS2R38.
They say the gene - which they believe most Germans have -makes some people extraordinarily sensitive to the bitter substances phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and propylthiouracil (PROP) present in large quantities in cabbage.
"The variations of a single gene therefore affect a person's eating habits," said Wolfgang Meyerhof, who led the research team.
The institute said the research was being published in the journal Current Biology.