rs72921001
Whether coriander tastes like soap
What this position does
Coriander leaf contains aldehydes that are also found in soap. This position sits beside a cluster of smell-receptor genes, and one version of it makes those aldehydes far more obvious.
What each result means
| If you carry | What it means |
|---|---|
| No copies of the effect version CC | Coriander probably tastes fine Neither copy carries the soap-associated version. |
| One copy AC | Raised chance of the soapy taste One copy of the soap-associated version. In the original study this shifted the odds noticeably, but it is a shift and not a verdict. |
| Two copies AA | Higher chance of the soapy taste Two copies of the soap-associated version. |
Worth knowing. This variant explains well under one per cent of the variation in whether people like coriander. Culture and exposure dominate it. It is here because it is the most famous example of a real but tiny genetic effect.
How common each version is
| Ancestry group | A (the effect version) | |
|---|---|---|
| African | 20.7% | |
| American | 37.3% | |
| East Asian | 31.3% | |
| European | 35.7% | |
| South Asian | 42.5% |
1000 Genomes Project phase 3, via Ensembl, retrieved 2026-09-23. These groupings are coarse and flatten a great deal of internal diversity, particularly within Africa. A variant being common somewhere tells you where a piece of your ancestry probably comes from, and nothing else.
How many people carry each result
| Ancestry group | CC | AC | AA |
|---|---|---|---|
| African | 410 / 661 | 228 / 661 | 23 / 661 |
| European | 213 / 503 | 221 / 503 | 69 / 503 |
| East Asian | 237 / 504 | 218 / 504 | 49 / 504 |
| South Asian | 170 / 489 | 222 / 489 | 97 / 489 |
| American | 143 / 347 | 149 / 347 | 55 / 347 |
Counts of people, not modelled frequencies: every one of the 2,504 individuals sequenced by the 1000 Genomes Project phase 3, tallied by the genotype they carry. Deriving these from allele frequencies instead would assume random mating inside each group and undercount the homozygotes.
How to find out which you have
If you have taken a test with 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, Family Tree DNA, TellMeGen or Living DNA, this position is very likely already in the raw data file they gave you. You do not need another test.
One thing to watch if you look it up by hand: testing companies report some positions from one DNA strand and some from the other, and the file does not say which. Read the letters as they appear and you will get the opposite of the truth for some positions. Sequencings resolves that automatically.
Source
Coordinates and allele pair verified against Ensembl GRCh37. Direction of effect verified against VEP protein consequences or 1000 Genomes population frequency. Category: Trait.
Where this fits
Common questions
What is rs72921001?
rs72921001 is a position in the OR6A2 gene on chromosome 11. Coriander leaf contains aldehydes that are also found in soap. This position sits beside a cluster of smell-receptor genes, and one version of it makes those aldehydes far more obvious.
What does it mean if I have AA at rs72921001?
Higher chance of the soapy taste. Two copies of the soap-associated version.
What does it mean if I have CC at rs72921001?
Coriander probably tastes fine. Neither copy carries the soap-associated version.
How do I find out my rs72921001 genotype?
If you have taken a home DNA test, this position is very likely in the raw data file you were given. Sequencings reads that file in your browser without uploading it, and resolves which DNA strand each position was reported from, which is the step most manual lookups get wrong.
This is reference information, not medical advice, and not a diagnosis. See the medical disclaimer. Category: Trait.