Spicy peppers are not mines for all

2002/02/12 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Biokimika

Researchers reveal the evolution of the pain caused by peppers.

The pain of peppers is caused by a molecule called capsaicin when it is associated with the protein VR1 of the jelly. But this reaction is not the same in all animals. The birds eat hot peppers without problems, the rats do not. However, the two mentioned species contain VR1, but it is not exactly the same.

Some North American biochemists have found that a part of the VR1 protein is equal in all mammals, but that the protein of birds is different. To find this different portion of protein, the portion of a rat's DNA, which encodes this protein, is introduced into a chicken that makes the chicken perceive the pain of peppers. However, it will be necessary to study the structure of these proteins of birds and mammals to fully understand their functioning.