Introduction:
The ability to taste or not taste the compound PTC (Phenylthiocarbamide) may greatly affect our lives. PTC tasting is a dominant trait in a majority of the population. For example in the Asian/European population 70 percent of the population are tasters. This number is even greater in African and American Indian populations(Taylor). Although PTC tasters may be prevalent, the ability to not taste PTC still exists in a substantial portion of the population around the globe; Due to it being passed down through heterozygous PTC tasters as Tt with big T being the ability to taste and with little t being lack of PTC receptor. When two heterozygous dominant parents are brought together there will be a 1 in 4 chance of producing a child…show more content… This may not be as practical for most of us in modern society due to the fact that we no longer have to scavenge for food and can instead go to the local grocery. Tasting PTC may prevent humans from consuming toxic substances, but it can also prevent us from consuming vegetables with many health benefits. It was shown that People with the PTC tasting receptors were less likely to eat cruciferous vegetables, which contain many cancer-fighting agents (Drewnowski). Along with preventing tasters from getting a healthy dose of these often-bitter vegetables it can also be linked to higher rates of depression (Whittemore). Incredibly enough PTC tasting ability has many more implications than just differing taste buds; it can affect our personality and the way we interact with our…show more content… Each lab subject will taste PTC to determine whether they are strong PTC tasters, moderate PTC tasters, or non-PTC tasters. Once the subject’s ability to taste has been determined they will be subdivided into their respective groups. A table will be set up with 4 different beverages arranged in any order. The beverages will be a generic soda, generic fruit juice, generic vegetable juice, and water as a control. The subject will try each beverage individually and give it a score from 1 to 10 with 10 being the best and 1 being the worst. The subject will also write down how often they drink the specific beverage they are consuming by writing often, sometimes, rarely, or