You won 't have to get drunk

Alcohol-free alcohol can appear on the market within five years

Evgenia Efimova, Vesti

A group of scientists led by British psychiatrist Professor David Nutt (David Nutt) from Imperial College London came up with a synthetic alcohol substitute called Alcarelle. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it intoxicates no worse than an ordinary hot drink, but subsequently does not cause the notorious hangover.

According to the developers in an interview with The Guardian, the novelty may appear on the market within the next five years.

Nutt was once the head of the UK government's Drug policy council, but was dismissed in 2009. His departure from the post is connected with criticism of the decision of the authorities to toughen penalties for the use of certain drugs. But, according to the professor, they are less dangerous than alcohol.

In 2010, Nutt published the results of his research in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet. According to the findings of the work, strong drinks cause more harm to society than some drugs.

Actually, many experts believe that alcohol is very dangerous to health (and in any doses). In particular, earlier researchers recognized it as the cause of seven types of cancer.

As a psychiatrist, Nutt says, "for most of my professional life, I treat people for whom alcohol is a problem, and many of my professional studies are related to this."

In 1983, while still a graduate student, Nutt discovered a kind of antidote for alcohol. But the substance turned out to be too dangerous in itself to be used on humans: it caused seizures.

Since then, Nutt has begun to study ways to stimulate GABA receptors in the brain. The scientist wanted to learn how to simulate the effect of alcohol on the brain.

After conducting numerous studies, Nutt found that alcohol binds to 15 different subtypes of gamma-aminobutyric acid neurotransmitter receptors in several brain regions.

Nutt does not disclose trade secrets, but notes that he has found which of them can be stimulated for the sake of intoxication, which will not give side effects. As a result, his group created an alcohol substitute – alcosynth.

The novelty was given the trade name Alcarelle, and so far it has not passed a safety test, and only Nutt and his colleagues have experienced it for themselves. After mixing it with fruit juice, the researchers came to the conclusion that such a cocktail is not very pleasant to the taste yet.

However, experts have developed a five-year plan that will bring the development to market.

According to scientists, the use of Alcarelle is likely to be regulated as the use of food additives, so the rules for the sale of food will be applied to the novelty. Accordingly, they will need to check it for security.

To get the approval of the relevant authorities, they need to create a drink that has its own packaging.

The development of a marketing company for a new product usually takes about three years, but due to the uniqueness of Alcarelle, it may take longer.

In general, experts do not want to create their own beverage company. On the contrary, they intend to supply the active ingredient to existing companies so that they can create and sell their own products.

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