Let yeast do the tasting: Can RNA barcodes make in-situ tasting a reality?

Human taste receptors detect tastants, playing a key role in flavor perception. Existing tools like bio-tongues, microfluidic devices with human cell lines and e-tongues require complex cell cultures and specialized equipment, making them impractical. I propose a yeast-based tasting panel, where yeast cells engineered to express human taste receptors will detect food tastants. Yeast cells will fluoresce via RNA-based aptamers upon tastant binding, providing a dynamic and tunable reporter system. Moreover, RNA barcode labeling will distinguish receptor strains via sequencing, generating a taste profile. Combining fluorescence and barcodes will provide two methods to study taste: real-time monitoring in the lab and rapid sequencing for taste analysis for practical applications. This platform will offer a scalable, high-throughput solution for novel, sustainable food development. It will enable analysis of complex or unsafe food, difficult to evaluate with traditional methods.