What’s common to sharks & humans? We both know what’s bitter, show taste receptor findings in fish

ScientiFix, our weekly feature, offers you a summary of the top global science stories of the week, with links to their sources.

Representational image of sharks | Reuters

New Delhi: Scientists from the University of Cologne and the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology in Freising, Germany have found a bitter taste receptor in 12 species of cartilaginous fish, or fish with skeletons made of cartilage instead of bone.

This receptor is part of a family of taste receptors, called T2R, which was previously thought to be only found in bony vertebrates, such as mammals, birds, and reptiles.

The study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this month, contradicts previous beliefs about the presence of these receptors.

The finding reveals new information about the evolution of bitter taste receptors over almost 500 million years, indicating the preservation of this function across vertebrate evolution.

The scientists also tested how sharks and rays responded to bitter substances and found that they had a similar sensitivity to humans.

This suggests that the function of the bitter taste receptor is remarkably similar among different species, despite their distant evolutionary relationship. Read more.

Cure for chronic pain?

A new discovery by scientists at NYU College of Dentistry’s Pain Research Center could revolutionise pain management in humans.

The study, which appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Thursday, highlights a small molecule, CBD3063, that reversed four kinds of chronic pain, including neuropathic and inflammatory, in studies done on mice. 

The scientists targeted an inner region of a calcium channel called Cav2.2, which is involved in pain signalling.

Most pain medications, such as Gabapentin, attach to the outside of this calcium channel and affect it from there. CBD3063 works from inside the calcium channel.

It interferes with the connection between the channel and a key pain-regulating protein called CRMP2, which lowers the flow of calcium and neurotransmitter release, and thus relieves pain.

When compared to Gabapentin, CBD3063 was found to be more effective, requiring the administration of much lower doses to reduce pain, the study said.

Moreover, according to the study, it did not cause the side effects that are often found to be common with existing medications, such as sedation, cognitive changes, or changes in heart rate and breathing. Read more.

How bonobos make friends with strangers

Researchers from Harvard University have found that bonobos, a close cousin of chimpanzees, display a rare cooperative behaviour similar to humans.

Although cooperation among individuals within groups is also common in other animals, doing so outside of such groups has rarely been observed.

Bonobos showed a friendly and tolerant approach toward unfamiliar individuals from other social groups, unlike chimpanzees who are territorial and aggressive.

The study, which appeared in Science journal Thursday, observed two bonobo groups in Congo’s Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve, documenting cases of grooming, food sharing, and cooperative alliances over two years.

The bonobos cooperated even when they did not get anything in return — contradicting previous beliefs about the presence of such traits among non-human animals.

This finding implies that long-term, extensive cooperation between groups can happen without strong cultural influences, revealing insights into the evolutionary conditions that led to the emergence of large-scale human societies.

The findings also raise questions about the factors that affect cooperation patterns in different species and the role of cultural factors in shaping social behaviours. Read more.

Hubble measures Earth-like planet

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has achieved a new feat by finding the size of LTT 1445Ac, the closest Earth-sized exoplanet in transit across a neighboring star. An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun, outside our solar system.

To measure exoplanets, astronomers use a technique called transit, which involves observing how the star’s light dims slightly when the planet crosses in front of it. This allows them to estimate the planet’s orbit and size by measuring the duration and depth of the transit.

Also, scientists can determine the planet’s size by checking how much the star’s brightness decreases during transit.

But LTT 1445Ac, which was first discovered by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in 2022, posed a measurement challenge because the scientists were uncertain about the size of its orbital plane, said a press statement released by NASA this week.

However, Hubble’s capabilities have now confirmed that LTT 1445Ac is only 1.07 times the diameter of Earth, and established it as a rocky place with a similar gravitational pull as the Earth, but a very high temperature of around 260℃. Read more.

(Edited by Richa Mishra)