Does my DNA file show why vegetables taste bitter to me?
It shows one important piece. The bitter-taste receptor gene TAS2R38 explains most of the difference in how strongly people taste the bitter test compound PTC, and the marker rs713598 in your file tells you which version of the receptor you carry at its first key position.
What to look for in your file
Search your raw data for rs713598 (chromosome 7). The letters below are as 23andMe and AncestryDNA report them. This position is a C/G "palindromic" SNP, and some websites (including SNPedia) show it on the opposite strand with the letters swapped — so match against this table only for a 23andMe or AncestryDNA file.
| Your letters | Associated with |
|---|---|
| G G | Two "taster" (Pro49, PAV) copies: bitterness from PTC/PROP-like compounds is perceived strongly. |
| C G | One taster copy: moderate bitter perception. |
| C C | "Non-taster" (Ala49, AVI) genotype: these bitter compounds are perceived weakly. |
Kim and colleagues found that three coding SNPs in TAS2R38 form haplotypes that completely explain the bimodal (taster / non-taster) distribution of PTC sensitivity and account for 55 to 85% of the variance in PTC sensitivity (PMID 12595690). rs713598 (amino acid 49 of the receptor) is one of those three positions.
How common is each result?
| Population group | G (taster) letter | C C (estimated) | G G (estimated) |
|---|---|---|---|
| African | 47.5% | 28% | 23% |
| Admixed American | 65.9% | 12% | 43% |
| East Asian | 67.6% | 10% | 46% |
| European | 42.2% | 33% | 18% |
| South Asian | 34.5% | 43% | 12% |
Allele frequencies: 1000 Genomes phase 3 via Ensembl, read 2026-10-23. Genotype shares are Hardy–Weinberg estimates.
All three results are common. None of them is a health risk; this is a taste trait.
Limits
- rs713598 is one of three positions that define the taster haplotypes; a single position can mislabel some rarer haplotypes.
- Food liking also depends on habit, culture, preparation and other genes — not on one receptor.
- For a C/G position, results from files that are not on the plus strand can be reversed.
What to do with it, in the kitchen
- If you are a G G or C G taster and find broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale or bitter greens harsh, preparation can help: try roasting, brief blanching, or pairing them with foods you already like, rather than dropping vegetables.
- If you are C C, this marker gives no reason to change anything.
References
- Kim UK, Jorgenson E, Coon H, Leppert M, Risch N, Drayna D. Positional cloning of the human quantitative trait locus underlying taste sensitivity to phenylthiocarbamide. Science 2003;299:1221–5. PMID 12595690
- 1000 Genomes Project phase 3 allele frequencies for rs713598, via Ensembl.
Genomeats reads this marker on your phone — nothing is uploaded. Full write-ups for this trait are free. Coming soon to the App Store.