Ancient Mutation Improved Alcohol Metabolism

Researchers have found a single genetic mutation that occurred about 10 million years ago and gave our primate ancestors a stronger ability to metabolize ethanol. By analyzing the ADH4 enzyme from 19 primate species, they showed that this mutation dramatically increased the enzyme’s efficiency at breaking down alcohol from fermenting fruit that had fallen to the forest floor. Ancestors that carried the mutation could safely consume this extra calorie source without becoming dangerously intoxicated. Because getting drunk off fruit would have made it harder to defend territory or search for food, natural selection favored individuals with the new mutation and spread it through the lineage that eventually led to humans.

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