Genes Aren't Enough to be a Supertaster - Explaining Phenotypic Expression 👅 🧬

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Watch this video to see Dr. Sanjay Juneja and Dr. Henry Barham discuss why genes aren't enough to be a supertaster, and expand on the importance of phenotypic expression.

According to a new study, a simple at-home taste test could be a gamechanger in predicting COVID-19 duration and symptom severity. The author of the study, Dr. Henry Barham sits down with Dr. Sanjay Juneja to discuss the exciting results, how the science works, and what it could mean for preventing serious complications and spread of COVID-19 and future diseases.

Dr. Barham and his team were interested in the Tas2R receptor, which can be expressed when tasting bitterness. With this simple taste test, they were able to separate the study participants into three groups: Super-Tasters, Tasters, and Non-Tasters. They found that 85% of those requiring hospitalization were in the Non-Taster group, while 0% were in the Super-Taster group. Of the 15% in the Taster group, the youngest person was 69 and the average age was 74, which is indicative of the receptor wearing off as people get older. The study also found that the taste expression was strongly connected to the duration of symptoms. On average, Super-Tasters experienced 5 days of symptoms, Tasters experienced 13.5 days of symptoms, and Non-Tasters experienced 23.7 days of symptoms.

How accurate were the results? The P value is the chance that the results happened by coincidence, with anything less than 0.05 being statistically significant. The P value with this study was as low as it can be: 0.001 (listed as 0.01).

These results could explain why some seemingly healthy young people experience worse symptoms than others and why treatments including hydroxychloroquine showed promise (because it activated the Tas2R receptor.) According to Dr. Barham, this taste test that is affordable, scalable, and very accurate could help people gain a better understanding of their potential complication risk from COVID-19 and other diseases and variants.

Supertaster and COVID Protection with Dr. Henry Barham
https://www.doctorpedia.com/doctor-pr...

Interviewed by
Dr. Sanjay Juneja
"THEONCDOC"
Chief Medical Officer Oncology - Doctorpedia
https://www.doctorpedia.com/team/sanj...

Produced by
Christopher Claxton
Head of Production - Doctorpedia

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