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First was the cloning of genes for a family of about 300 odorant receptors by author. "Taste and olfaction are very related. They are both concerned with detecting chemicals in the environment. "So if in olfaction a big family of receptors is discovered, that is very inspiring for people working on taste." The work of author also further bolstered what had long been accepted about the chemoreceptive senses--that the receptors are seven-helix membrane-spanning proteins coupled to G proteins. Researchers base this conclusion on analysis of events occurring after responses to sweet or bitter tastants. The biochemical products formed are typical of responses mediated by G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Sequencing of genomes has also provided a major impetus to the search for taste receptors. By scanning mouse and human genomic databases in regions associated with taste discrimination, researchers quickly found several genes encoding potential taste receptors. This year, for example, a gene that codes for a putative sweet receptor was found by this approach. Last year, a family of genes encoding putative bitter taste receptors was discovered similarly.
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