Meet the researchers who discovered the 'undertakers' of taste, one of our least understood senses
The next time you crave a sweet treat, go ahead and buy a bag of jellybeans - guilt free. Your indulgence will be in the interest of science.
"Just be sure to get a good jellybean - not a cheap, generic one," said Thomas Finger, PhD, professor of cell and developmental biology at CU Anschutz.
Next, choose any color of jellybean. Plug your nose, and pop it in your mouth. After a few chews, notice what you sense.
Now, release your fingers from your nose.
"You'll experience an explosion of flavor!" said Courtney Wilson, PhD. She explains that with a plugged nose, you probably could describe what you tasted as being sweet (or sour, if you chose a citrus-flavored jellybean). But it's only once you add in your sense of smell that you experience the jellybean's full flavor.
This "science" experiment is one Wilson and Finger conduct with students of all ages. They say the reaction is always the same.
"About half the people in the class say, 'Oh, wow!' when their sense of smell comes back online," said Wilson, assistant research professor of cell and developmental biology at CU Anschutz. "Most people have no idea how interconnected their sense of taste is with their sense of smell."
Finger and Wilson are working to help us understand the vital-yet-misunderstood sense that helped us evolve and thrive as humans. Here, they clear up some common misconceptions and share studies in their labs shining light on taste loss due to COVID-19 - and the mysterious "undertaker" cells they discovered in the taste bud.
