Editing Supertaster (section)

== Discovery ==
Reports of variations in human taste perception date back to 1888.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bailey |first1=E. H. S. |last2=Nichols |first2=E. L. |date=1888-03-23 |title=On the Sense of Taste |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ns-11.268.145.b |journal=Science |language=en |volume=ns-11 |issue=268 |pages=145–146 |doi=10.1126/science.ns-11.268.145.b |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The major advance in understanding human taste variation came in 1931 with the discovery of "taste-blindness" specifically for thiourea compounds, when Arthur L. Fox, a chemist at [[DuPont]], discovered that some people found [[Phenylthiocarbamide|phenylthiocarbamide (PTC)]] bitter, while others found it tasteless.<ref name=":02">Fox, Arthur L. "Six in ten “tasteblind” to bitter chemical." ''Sci News Lett'' 9 (1931): 249.</ref><ref name="Bartoshuk 20003">{{cite journal |vauthors=Bartoshuk LM |date=February 2000 |title=Psychophysical advances aid the study of genetic variation in taste |journal=Appetite |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=105 |doi=10.1006/appe.1999.0287 |pmid=10744897 |s2cid=30300307}}</ref>
[[File:Taste Exhibit at the 1931 New Orleans meeting of the AAAS.jpg|thumb|184x184px|Taste Exhibit at the 1931 [[American Association for the Advancement of Science|AAAS]] meeting. Visitors were invited to "try this harmless substance and learn whether you are a taster or a non-taster."]]
Fox describes the event:<blockquote>''Some time ago the author <small>[Arthur L. Fox]</small> had occasion to prepare a quantity of phenyl-thio-carbamide, and while placing it in a bottle the dust flew around in the air. Another occupant of the laboratory, Dr. C. R. Noller, complained of the bitter taste of the dust, but the author, who was much closer, observed no taste and so stated. He even tasted some of the crystals and assured Dr. Noller they were tasteless but Dr. Noller was equally certain it was the dust he tasted. He tried some of the crystals and found them extremely bitter.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fox |first=Arthur L. |date=January 1932 |title=The Relationship between Chemical Constitution and Taste |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=115–120 |doi=10.1073/pnas.18.1.115 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=1076170 |pmid=16577421|bibcode=1932PNAS...18..115F }}</ref>''</blockquote>At the 1931 [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] (AAAS) meeting, Fox collaborated with [[Albert F. Blakeslee]], a geneticist, to have participants taste PTC: 65% found it bitter, 28% found it tasteless, and 6% described other taste qualities. Subsequent studies established that the ability to taste PTC was heritable ([[Dominance (genetics)|Mendelian recessive]]), indicating a genetic component to taste sensitivity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Snyder |first=L. H. |date=1931-08-07 |title=Inherited Taste Deficiency |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.74.1910.151 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=74 |issue=1910 |pages=151–152 |doi=10.1126/science.74.1910.151 |pmid=17782493 |bibcode=1931Sci....74..151S |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blakeslee |first=Albert F. |date=Jan 1932 |title=Genetics of Sensory Thresholds: Taste for Phenyl Thio Carbamide |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=120–130 |doi=10.1073/pnas.18.1.120 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=1076171 |pmid=16577422|bibcode=1932PNAS...18..120B }}</ref>

In the 1960s, [[Roland L. Fischer|Roland Fischer]] was the first to link the ability to taste PTC, and the related compound [[propylthiouracil|propylthiouracil (PROP)]] to food preference, diet, and [[calorie]] intake.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Tepper BJ, Banni S, Melis M, Crnjar R, Tomassini Barbarossa I |date=August 2014 |title=Genetic sensitivity to the bitter taste of 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) and its association with physiological mechanisms controlling body mass index (BMI) |journal=Nutrients |volume=6 |issue=9 |pages=3363–3381 |doi=10.3390/nu6093363 |pmc=4179166 |pmid=25166026 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Today, PROP has replaced PTC for research because of a faint [[sulfurous]] odor and safety concerns with PTC.<ref name="TexleyKwan20042">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJYGmkmnPT8C&pg=PT90 |title=Investigating Safely: A Guide for High School Teachers |vauthors=Texley J, Kwan T, Summers J |date=1 January 2004 |publisher=NSTA Press |isbn=978-0-87355-202-8 |pages=90–}}</ref> In the 1990s Linda Bartoshuk and colleagues discovered that the taster group could be further divided into medium tasters and supertasters.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Bartoshuk LM |year=1991 |title=Sweetness: history, preference, and genetic variability |journal=Food Technology |volume=45 |issue=11 |pages=108–13 |issn=0015-6639 |id={{INIST|5536670}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Di Lorenzo PM, Youngentob SL |date=15 April 2003 |title=Olfaction and Taste |journal=Handbook of Psychology |pages=269–297 |doi=10.1002/0471264385.wei0310 |isbn=0471264385}}</ref> Research suggests 25% of the population are non-tasters, 50% are medium tasters, and 25% are supertasters.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Robino |first1=Antonietta |last2=Mezzavilla |first2=Massimo |last3=Pirastu |first3=Nicola |last4=Dognini |first4=Maddalena |last5=Tepper |first5=Beverly J. |last6=Gasparini |first6=Paolo |date=2014-03-13 |title=A Population-Based Approach to Study the Impact of PROP Perception on Food Liking in Populations along the Silk Road |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=e91716 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0091716 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=3953580 |pmid=24626196|bibcode=2014PLoSO...991716R }}</ref>

As a result of hundreds of studies exploring the detection threshold variation in taste sensitivity, the ability to taste the bitter compound phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) has become one of the best-known Mendelian traits in human populations, ranking alongside [[eye color]] and [[blood type]] in the canon of classic examples.<ref>Stephen Wooding, Phenylthiocarbamide: A 75-Year Adventure in Genetics and Natural Selection, ''Genetics'', Volume 172, Issue 4, 1 April 2006, Pages 2015–2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/172.4.2015</ref>