Gene transformation makes Asians blush when drinking alcohol

According to a study published in the January 1 issue of BMC Biological Evolution, rice is considered to be the cause of genetic changes that cause Asians to react reddened to drinking alcohol.

Bing Su, a geneticist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a team of experts conducted a genetic study of 2,275 people from 38 ethnic groups across East Asia.

Thereby, Su found mutations that changed the genes of an enzyme that increased the rate of alcohol metabolism by up to 100 times that of normal. This is also the cause of blushing in drinkers.

Rice is the cause of genetic changes that make Asians blush when drinking alcohol.

This genetic change appeared about 10,000 years ago in southern China, at the same time residents began planting rice along the Yangtze River. Genetic changes are found mainly in Asia and very little in Europe and Africa. Up to 70% of Han Chinese carry this gene while the Tibetan group has only 17%.

Su explained that gene mutations spread throughout Asia and towards Europe along with the expansion of wet rice cultivation. The rapid eruption of alcohol from the blood has protected the drinker from the negative effects of alcohol and the person with the gene is at low risk of alcoholism.

However, geneticist Kenneth Kidd, Yale University (USA) said that the above explanation is too simple but agrees that the effects of culture may have caused genetic changes that blush when Drinking alcohol in Asians.