Researchers Suspect Gene Predisposes Vegetarians to Dislike Meat
May 4, 2012 at 9:30AM by Kiri Tannenbaum | 17 Comment
Deciding if you should practice vegetarianism may all come down to a smell test. Scientists at Duke University have discovered that those who skip meat may have genes that cause them to find the animal odor more overwhelming than others.
The researchers at Duke, working with a team from Norway, found that the gene is linked to an odor receptor that responds to androstenone, a pheromone, which is naturally present in meat from male pigs or boars. According to the study, published in PLoS One, people with two copies of the gene — Human OR7D4 — are more sensitive to the scent of the androstenone than those with only one or no variation of OR7D4.
As everyone knows, taste is heavily reliant on your ability to smell. For some participants who are highly sensitive, the smell picked up from pork was putrid — resembling urine and body odor. These subjects also found the taste to be extremely pungent and sour.
The sensitive sensory receptors may explain why many people in certain areas are turned off by certain meats. A study published in Food Quality and Preference showed that 39 percent of Norwegians were categorized as androstenone sensitive.
But not every pig carries the scent. Castration of the boars cuts down on the androstenone levels. Animal activists protest such procedures.
The trial included 23 people who were asked to sniff pork meat with varying levels of the pheromone. Some were unable to detect the odor, while others were extremely sensitive. It is believed that 70 percent of the population have two copies of the gene. According to WebMD, people have genes for more than 400 sensory receptors that pick up on 10,000 different odors. Will genes be detected to explain why we love ice cream or hate broccoli? Only time will tell.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
