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This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.

As we recover from the holiday weekend, there is some intoxicating¹ news on curbing² the effects of alcohol. In the May 29th issue of Cell, scientists report discovering a gene³ that controls fruit flies’ sensitivity to ethanol. And if that just sounds like tipsy talk, the finding suggests that a couple of current anticancer drugs might find use in treating alcoholism. Some flies, like some people, just can’t hold their drink. One sip⁴ and they are tripping over their own wings. So the scientists set out to search for the fly genes⁵ involved in alcohol sensitivity. And they turned up a gene they call “Happy Hour”.

Flies with the normal version of this gene are liquor lightweights, while “Happy Hour” mutants can drink their fly friends under the table. In the normal flies, “Happy Hour” blocks a hormone⁶ called EGF. And the scientists found that two anticancer drugs, which also inhibit⁷ EGF, make boozing flies more woozy, a feeling that is as unpleasant for flies as it is for people. Rats, too, will take in a nip and say enough, when they are on these drugs. Robbing booze of its buzz is one way to attack alcoholism, which means that, at least genetically⁸ speaking, it’s good to have a little “Happy Hour”.

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Karen Hopkin.