WHY ARE YOU GETTING MICE DRUNK, Professor Lu?

“Although our thirst for alcohol dates back to the Stone Age, nobody has figured out a good way to deal with the ensuing hangover after getting drunk. So as a chemical engineering professor and wine enthusiast, I felt I needed to find a solution. Up to 10 percent of emergency room visits in America are due to acute alcohol poisoning,” says Dr. Yunfeng Lu, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UCLA. Human trials would’ve been too risky: Alcohol is a known neurotoxin. Thus Lu initially chose mice because their biological and genetic characteristics closely resemble those of humans. In fact, we share 90% of our genes with mice. Almost every human gene has a counterpart in the small rodents. Yu and his team created tiny capsules filled with three natural enzymes found in human liver cells to help the body process alcohol faster. They then injected them into the veins of drunken mice. When the enzymes arrived in a mouse’s liver, they worked as mini reactors to digest the alcohol the mouse had consumed. The treatment decreased blood alcohol levels by 45% in a matter of just a few hours. The researchers also found that levels of acetaldehyde—the toxic chemical responsible for headaches and vomiting—remained very low. Mice that were treated with the capsules woke from their alcohol-induced torpor much faster than a control group of mice that were not treated. “This is something that all college students would appreciate,” says Lu. “The ability to efficiently break down alcohol quickly should help people wake up earlier and prevent alcohol poisoning. It should also protect their liver from alcohol-associated stress and damage.” If the treatment is deemed safe in animals, human clinical trials could start soon.