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| A Question of Taste |
| Written by C Poulter |
 On the 28th April, a group of 6th form science students set off bright and early on a trip to the Nowgen centre for genetics in Manchester. Feeling very professional in our white lab coats and bright purple gloves we started the day by tasting two seemingly innocent strips of paper, one of which provoked complaints of a disgusting taste from some of the group whilst the rest of us couldn’t taste a thing.
This was followed by more nasty tastes when we had to gargle salty water to extract some DNA from our cheeks! Taste was the theme for the day- we were investigating a chemical called PCT which is responsible for the bitter taste found in green vegetables and only some people have the gene that means they are able to taste it. During the day we were analysing samples of our own DNA using lots of exciting equipment and some complicated sounding techniques like “the polymerase chain reaction”, “restriction digestion” and “gel electrophoresis” which we learnt loads about throughout the day. At the end of the day’s session we donned some futuristic looking orange glasses to look at the results of our work. They showed whether we had the gene to taste the PCT chemical or not, finally giving some people an excuse not to eat Brussels sprouts!      |
