A substance to which some people are taste blind; an inherited condition.
A substance that tastes bitter to some individuals but is tasteless to others. Response to PTC appears to be controlled by a single pair of genes (‘alleles): ability to taste PTC is dominant to the inability to taste it.
A chemical used in studying medical genetics to detect the presence of a marker gene. About 70% of the population inherit the ability to note the taste of phenylthiocarbamide to be extremely bitter. To the remainder of the population, it is tasteless. The gene for tasting is dominant and is expressed in both homozygous and heterozygous individuals.