The synthetic alcohol is called Alcarelle, and by all accounts it promises to get you drunk (thus enabling you to live your rock-star life) with no damaging side-effects.
As per MailOnline, Alcarella is based on a molecule called ‘alcosynth’, and will let you drink alcohol without delivering the same toxic effects.
Sounds brilliant, right? Well, there is a slight catch in that it may be a few years before this heavenly nectar is on the shelves. It still has to be properly regulated – a process that usually takes around three years – but could take longer due to Alcarelle’s unique properties.
Speaking to The Guardian, Professor David Nutt, a neuropsychopharmacologist at Imperial College London who led the work on alcosnyth, said: “There will obviously be testing to check the molecule is safe. And we need to show that it’s different from alcohol. We will demonstrate that it doesn’t produce toxicity like alcohol does.”
According to Professor Nut, he’s been able to find a way to stimulate the receptors in the brain so that tipsiness is induced without adverse effects.
“We know where in the brain alcohol has its ‘good’ effects and ‘bad’ effects, and what particular receptors mediate that – Gaba, glutamate and other ones, such as serotonin and dopamine. The effects of alcohol are complicated but … you can target the parts of the brain you want to target,” he said.
Needless to say, we’ll owe Professor Nut a pint or five if he can pull off the production of alcohol with none of the bad stuff involved.
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