Page 150 - The Miracles of Smell and Taste

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our Lord, Who created them.
Those taste molecules that carry the news of saltiness and sourness
establish direct links with the ion channels in the cell membrane. Sweet,
bitter and umami molecules, on the other hand, attach to receptors in the

cell membrane. The well known researchers David V. Smith (of the
University of Tennessee Health Science Center) and Robert F. Margolskee
(of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine) compare
the link between molecule and receptor to
that of a lock and key, as is the case with
scent perception. 135 In the same way that
a specific key opens a specific lock, a spe-
cific molecule sets each receptor into ac-
tion. On the cell membrane, which con-
sists of fat and proteins and is just
1/100,000th of a millimeter (0.000000394
of an inch) thick, are channels that regulate
entry and exit to the cell and receptors that
function like switchboards. These astonish-

ing marvels recognize millions of different

Taste molecules establish
bonds with the ion chan-
nels on the taste-cell mem-
branes in order for us to
detect the bitter flavor of a
kiwi fruit.