Scientists discovered that bamboo's miRNA enters giant pandas' blood, influencing their feeding habits and taste perception.

Giant pandas don't eat meat because chemicals in the bamboo they chomp on changing their tastes, suggests new research. Despite having digestive systems typical of carnivores, the diet of the iconic species consists almost entirely of the leaves, stems and shoots of various types of bamboo.

Tiny scraps of genetic material from bamboo might influence the genes of pandas, helping them adapt to a mostly bamboo diet.