A fundamental challenge for our ancient ancestors was getting enough to eat.
The basic activities of day-to-day life, such as raising the young, finding shelter and securing enough food, all required energy in the form of calories. Individuals more proficient at garnering calories tended to be more successful at all these tasks. They survived longer and had more surviving children โ they had greater fitness, in evolutionary terms.
One contributor to success was how good they were at foraging. Being able to detect sweet things โ sugars โ could give someone a big leg up.
Genes encode the instructions for how to make every protein in the body. The sugar-detecting receptor protein TAS1R2/3 is encoded by a pair of genes on chromosome 1 of the human genome, conveniently named TAS1R2 and TAS1R3.
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Comparisons with other species reveal just how deeply sweet perception is embedded in human beings. The TAS1R2 and TAS1R3 genes arenโt only found in humans โ most other vertebrates have them, too.
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The presence of the TAS1R1 and TAS2R2 genes across so many species testifies to the advantages sweet taste has provided for eons.
