Scientists discover a new class of taste receptors

Evolution is a tinkerer, not an engineer. ‘Evolution does not produce novelties from scratch. It works with what already exists,’ wrote Nobel laureate François Jacob in 1977, and biologists continue to find this to be true. Case in point: A team of scientists has discovered that multiple opsin proteins, known for decades to be required for vision, also function as taste receptors. The finding represents a light-independent function for opsins, and raises questions about the purpose these proteins served in ancient organisms.