Until fairly recently, most of us learned that there were four basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. It was presented as settled science. Yet anyone who enjoys a bowl of miso soup, a ripe tomato, Parmesan cheese, or a rich broth recognizes a flavor that doesn’t quite fit any of those categories.
More than a century ago, Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda thought the same thing. In 1908, after studying the flavor of kombu broth, he isolated glutamic acid and proposed that this distinctive savory taste should be recognized as a fifth basic taste. He called it umami, meaning “pleasant savory taste.”
His proposal was not immediately accepted. For decades, many scientists believed umami was simply a combination of other tastes or perhaps an effect of aroma rather than a true taste of its own. It wasn’t until specialized receptors for glutamate were identified on the tongue that the scientific community broadly accepted umami as the fifth basic taste.
I find the history fascinating because it illustrates something about science itself. The discovery of those receptors did not create umami. People had been experiencing that taste for centuries. What changed was not reality but our understanding of it. Science often works this way. Newton did not invent gravity, and Pasteur did not create bacteria. They described realities that already existed. Scientific progress usually consists of seeing more clearly what has been there all along.
Sometimes people use examples like this to argue that whatever science cannot explain today must be evidence for God. I don’t think that is a very good argument. History teaches us that many mysteries eventually receive natural explanations, and Christians should welcome those discoveries rather than fear them.
What interests me is a different question. Why is the universe so remarkably understandable? Science has become extraordinarily successful because nature behaves in consistent and predictable ways. The same chemical reactions occur today as they did yesterday. The same physical laws apply here on earth and in distant galaxies. The same genetic code governs life across the living world. We have built entire fields of science on the assumption that creation is orderly enough to be investigated, and that assumption has proven to be extraordinarily fruitful.
But why should that be true? Science can explain how glutamate binds to a receptor and how that signal is transmitted to the brain. It can describe the molecular events with remarkable precision. What science cannot answer is why a universe exists in which chemistry, mathematics, and the human mind fit together so beautifully that such discoveries are even possible. That is not a scientific question. It is a philosophical one.
As a Christian, I don’t see scientific discoveries as shrinking the place for God. Quite the opposite. Every genuine discovery reveals another layer of order and complexity in His creation. The more we learn, the more remarkable the universe appears.
Paul expressed this idea well:
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.
Romans 1:20 (ESV)
The story of umami is not really about a fifth taste. It is a reminder that reality is often richer than our current understanding. Scientific knowledge grows because there are real patterns waiting to be discovered. Each generation uncovers truths that previous generations could only glimpse.
That realization ought to make us intellectually humble. We should resist the temptation to believe that what we know today is all there is to know. At the same time, we should recognize that every new scientific insight raises another question about the remarkable order of the universe itself.
Perhaps that is one of the quiet gifts of science. It not only expands our knowledge; it deepens our sense of wonder.
Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.
#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #umami #Romans1:20
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The story of umami makes me wonder how often we confuse “we don’t understand it yet” with “it isn’t real.”
Science has taught us to keep looking—and, for me, Romans 1:20 gives that search an even deeper meaning.
Has a scientific discovery ever made you think differently about God or creation?