rs72921001

rs72921001 is a common intronic variant sitting within a dense olfactory-receptor gene cluster on chromosome 11 (annotated as intronic to OR10A2 in current builds, but historically implicated as tagging OR6A2). OR6A2 encodes a receptor with high binding affinity for the unsaturated aldehydes responsible for cilantro's characteristic aroma, and carriers of the C/C genotype at this SNP are more likely to perceive cilantro as tasting soapy, while the minor A allele is associated with reduced soapy-taste detection. The association is genome-wide significant but explains only a small fraction (about 0.5%) of overall variance in cilantro taste perception.