It's actually SUPER buried that they are NOT talking about a new taste at all, but a new taste receptor that fires when detecting any of these 3 tastes: bitter,

It's actually SUPER buried that they are NOT talking about a new taste at all, but a new taste receptor that fires when detecting any of these 3 tastes: bitter, sweet or umami. They are calling this new taste receptor a "broadly receptive taste cell." If these "broadly receptive taste cells" are disabled, then all of those 3 tastes are no longer perceptible. This indicates that the brain is looking for the simultaneous firing of this receptor and another more specialized receptor for each of these 3 tastes. If either signal is missing, then the taste is not able to be detected. When you click through to the actual study in the third paragraph it's a lot clearer. The stuff about the evidence for a fat taste receptor existing actually has nothing to do with the study they are supposedly covering. It's my opinion that the headline is EXTREMELY misleading, for both the reason above as well as the fact that before this study, everyone associated one taste cell with one taste, so given those priors, you would expect the discovery of a new type of taste cell to indicate that a new taste had been discovered. Here's the relevant portion from TFA with the fluff removed. Emphasis mine. > The study involved characterizing isolated batches of broadly receptive taste cells for their electrical signaling as well as extensive behavioral experiments in which mice placed in special cages with different bottles of solution were trained to seek out certain bottles that offered tastes they like. Medler’s team showed that when mice lose their broadly responsive taste cells, the animals basically behave like they can’t taste bitter, sweet, AND umami.