rs10246939
A SNP in the TAS2R38 gene on chromosome 7. Its most notable genotype is T;T: possibly unable to taste bitterness
- Gene
- TAS2R38
- Location
- Chr 7141,972,804 (GRCh38)
- Highest magnitude
- 1.1Minor
- Tested on
- 23andMe, AncestryDNA, FamilyTreeDNA
- Minor allele frequency
- 45%
Genotypes
As shown in 23andMe and AncestryDNA files.
- C;CNot ratedcan taste bitter
- C;TNot ratedcan taste bitter
- T;TMost notableNot ratedpossibly unable to taste bitterness
On SNPedia: (C;C), (C;T), (T;T). Magnitude rates how notable a genotype is from 0 to 10, not how risky it is.
Frequency
Share of each genotype in 11 HapMap populations.
- AverageC;C 31% C;T 47% T;T 22%
- European ancestry (Utah)C;C 20% C;T 48% T;T 33%
- Han Chinese (Beijing)C;C 47% C;T 42% T;T 12%
- Japanese (Tokyo)C;C 35% C;T 46% T;T 20%
- Yoruba (Nigeria)C;C 21% C;T 51% T;T 28%
- African ancestry (Southwest US)C;C 30% C;T 54% T;T 16%
- Chinese (Denver)C;C 51% C;T 42% T;T 7%
- Gujarati IndianC;C 16% C;T 52% T;T 32%
- Luhya (Kenya)C;C 26% C;T 50% T;T 25%
- Mexican ancestry (Los Angeles)C;C 38% C;T 45% T;T 17%
- Maasai (Kenya)C;C 26% C;T 48% T;T 26%
- TuscanC;C 32% C;T 45% T;T 23%
Related
Conditions, medicines and genes
Other TAS2R38 SNPs
Genosets
- Gs11680% likely to be unable to taste bitter.Important
- Gs227Fully heterozygous, age-related tasting variationImportant
- Gs184Able to taste bitterness.Minor
Genosets combine several genotypes. Twofold checks them in your report.
Notes
From SNPedia
Show notes, about 140 words
rs10246939 is one of three SNPs that form the main haplotypes behind the ability to perceive as bitter the taste of the compound phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and similar molecules in foods (like cabbage and raw broccoli) or drinks (like coffee and dark beers). The rs10246939(C) allele, in the orientation shown in dbSNP, is the "tasting" allele, and it is dominant to the "non-tasting" allele rs10246939(T), so having one copy is enough to have the bitter tasting ability. If you are a "taster", you're also likely to carry at least one rs713598(G) and one rs1726866(C) allele since, along with rs10246939(C), these three SNPs form the most common tasting haplotype. If you lack these alleles, you're quite likely (~80%) to be a non-taster of bitterness, meaning that foods that may taste bitter to others taste far less bitter to you.
T;T
possibly unable to taste bitterness
Source and license
Adapted from rs10246939 on SNPedia, using a snapshot taken October 16, 2026. SNPedia content is shared under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US, and this page is shared under the same license.
SNPedia is a community-edited wiki. Its entries can be incomplete, out of date or wrong, and nothing here is a diagnosis or medical advice. Magnitude is a community rating of how interesting a genotype is, not a risk score.