A team of scientists at the University of Bourgogne, in Dijon, France, led by Philippe Besnard, looked at the tongues of mice and found a receptor protein, called CD36, that appears to make lipids taste delicious to the animals.
In their work, published in the latest edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, they demonstrated that when mice deprived of the use of CD36 were given a choice between a liquid laced with lipids and a fat-free drink, they showed no preference for either.