Do animals have a sweet tooth?

Of cats, dogs
and fruit flies
By Cricket Media, adapted by Newsela staff on 05.10.22
Word Count 799
Level 950L

Dogs have a sweet tooth for natural sugar. But don’t let them eat it! Sugar can be toxic for dogs. Photo: Israel Sebastian/Getty Images
Photo: Israel Sebastian/Getty Images

Does your dog stare longingly at your strawberry ice cream cone as you lick it? Does he scarf up
cookie crumbs better than any vacuum cleaner? If so, your pet is one of many animals that like
sweet things. But other kinds of animals can't taste sweetness at all.

In 2008, scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, made a
discovery. They found an animal that likes almost all the same kinds of sweets that people do. And
you might be surprised to find out who our sweet twin is.

Cats Can't Taste Sweets

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If you don't feel like sharing your dessert, try spending time with a cat. Many pet owners have
noticed that their cats don't have much of a sweet tooth, and now scientists understand why. Cats
can't taste sweetness.

Humans, like other mammals, have taste buds on the

tongue. Mammals are animals that breathe air and
have backbones. They grow hair at some point in their
lives. There are different taste buds that can taste
different flavors.

The taste buds that sense sweetness do so because of

two proteins, called T1R2 and T1R3. Proteins are long
molecules that are an essential part of living things
and do important work inside cells.

Monell scientists discovered that, in cats, the gene

that provides instructions for making the T1R2
protein doesn't work. Genes are segments of DNA that
hold instructions for a cell to make a protein. Since
the gene doesn't work, cats can't taste sweet things.
But because cats still have the gene, it's likely they
could taste sweetness millions of years ago.

Cats and people, however, do share plenty of taste

preferences. Like many of us, cats tend to avoid bitter
tastes like unsweetened chocolate. They also avoid
sour tastes like spoiled milk. Your cat may lick an ice
cream cone, but it's probably seeking the cream rather
than the sugar.

Sweetness is one of the many things that dogs and cats disagree about. Dogs have been shown to
enjoy at least four different kinds of natural sugars that humans like. Most mammals are more like
dogs than cats, according to Monell scientist Xia Li. They seek out sugar because it's a great source
of energy.

Natural And Artificial Sweeteners

Dogs enjoy sweetness, but they don't seem to care for artificial sweeteners, which are sugar
substitutes people have created in laboratories. One substitute is sucralose, which is sold as
Splenda. There's also aspartame, which is used to sweeten diet soft drinks. Artificial sweeteners
are generally less popular among animals than natural sugars. Rats and mice like a few of them.
But meerkats, ferrets, and mongooses didn't like any of the artificial sweeteners they were offered
during testing.

The mammals that are most like us in their taste for artificial sweeteners are our closest relatives,
the primates. Primates include African and Asian monkeys and apes (along with humans). And
they are among the few mammals that can taste aspartame.

Fruit Flies And Humans Have Common Tastes

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Mammals aren't the only creatures that have a sweet
tooth. Ants and hummingbirds like natural sugars.
But they don't seem interested in artificial sweeteners.
Many animals have yet to be tested, but Monell
researchers already identified one animal whose
sweetener preferences very closely mirror our own:
the fruit fly.

Beth Gordesky-Gold is a scientist at the University of

Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She was on the Monell
research team. She tested 21 different substances on
fruit flies, 20 of which taste sweet to humans. The fruit flies liked the same 20. When it comes to
sweeteners, humans are not a perfect match for fruit flies. But we have more in common with
them than with most mammals, including many monkeys.

This seems surprising. Humans look and act very differently from fruit flies. But our tastes may
have developed along the same way as fruit flies' tastes. That's because we occupy the same niche.
A niche is a specific role a living thing plays in a community. Humans and fruit flies both
originated in tropical and temperate Africa. We're also both omnivores, meaning we eat both
plants and meats. And we both especially enjoy fruit.

The fact that fruit flies share our taste in sweets might come in handy for us. In Melbourne,
Australia, scientist Anne Rae has used fruit flies to help identify new sweeteners for people. She
presented fruit flies with two sweeteners at a time. One was dyed red and the other blue. She knew
that when the flies' abdomens turned blue after feeding time, we humans would probably like the
blue sweetener better, too!

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Quiz

1 Read the section “Fruit Flies And Humans Have Common Tastes.” Select the sentence that suggests that people would be
surprised to learn of humans’ and fruit flies’ similarities in taste.

(A) Humans look and act very differently from fruit flies.

(B) That’s because we occupy the same niche.

(C) Humans and fruit flies both originated in tropical and temperate Africa.

(D) The fact that fruit flies share our taste in sweets might come in handy for us.

2 Read the following paragraph from the section “Natural And Artificial Sweeteners.”

Dogs enjoy sweetness, but they don’t seem to care for artificial sweeteners, which are sugar
substitutes people have created in laboratories. One substitute is sucralose, which is sold as
Splenda. There’s also aspartame, which is used to sweeten diet soft drinks. Artificial sweeteners
are generally less popular among animals than natural sugars. Rats and mice like a few of them.
But meerkats, ferrets and mongooses didn’t like any of the artificial sweeteners they were offered
during testing.

What conclusion is BEST supported by the paragraph?

(A) Diet soft drinks are sweetened primarily with natural sugars.

(B) Dogs enjoy sweetness only if it comes in the form of Splenda.

(C) Artificial sweeteners are disliked by animals with a few exceptions like rats and mice.

(D) Mongooses have a stronger dislike of artificial sweeteners than most other animals.

3 Read the following sentence from the section “Fruit Flies And Humans Have Common Tastes.”

Humans and fruit flies both originated in tropical and temperate Africa.

What does the word “temperate” tell the reader?

(A) Humans and fruit flies came from a part of Africa with very little rain.

(B) Humans and fruit flies came from a part of Africa with a lot of rain.

(C) Humans and fruit flies came from a part of Africa that is neither very hot nor very cold.

(D) Humans and fruit flies came from a part of Africa that was very hot and humid.

4 Read the following sentence from the section “Natural And Artificial Sweeteners.”

Dogs enjoy sweetness, but they don’t seem to care for artificial sweeteners, which are sugar
substitutes people have created in laboratories.

Which word, if it replaced “substitutes,” would CHANGE the meaning of the sentence?

(A) additions

(B) alternatives

(C) fill-ins

(D) replacements

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