Scientists watch living taste cells in action »

Scientists have for the first time captured live images of the process of taste sensation on the tongue. The international team imaged single cells on the tongue of a mouse with a specially designed microscope system. "We've watched live taste cells capture and process molecules with different tastes," said biomedical engineer Dr Steve Lee, from the ANU Research School of Engineering. There are more than 2,000 taste buds on the human tongue, which can distinguish at least five tastes: salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami. However the relationship between the many taste cells within a taste bud, and our perception of taste has been a long standing mystery, said Professor Seok-Hyun Yun from Harvard Medical School. "With this new imaging tool we have shown that each taste bud contains taste cells for different tastes," said Professor Yun. The team also discovered that taste cells responded not only to molecules contacting the surface of the tongue, but also to molecules in the blood circulation.