“Drink like thereโs tomorrowโ that is the company slogan of ZBiotics, the synthetic biology company selling a probiotic supplement that prevents hangovers. With its recent launch on August 17th, the FDA compliant, patent-pending probiotic drink is the first genetically engineered probiotic to break down a toxic byproduct of alcohol called acetaldehyde, and it works.
I first met ZBiotics CEO and founder, Zack Abbott, at the Silicon Valley seed accelerator Y Combinatorโsย Demo Day in 2018. He recognized me from my weeklyย SynBioBeta newsletterย and came up and introduced himself. With a big smile he told me that he was working on a probiotic hangover cure, and handed me a sample. As I was walking away I thought to myself, โThat is the stupidest idea I have ever heard of โ typical Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, solving first-world problems.โToday, I am an advisor to the company (for full disclosure).
A few months following my first meet with Zack, I met him again and we got to talking about the effects that alcohol has on the body. It turned out that Zack has a Ph.D. in cancer biology and knew the biochemical and physiological effects of alcohol better than anyone I have ever met. Finally, a few months later at an office party, I downed the little ZBiotics bottle containing the magic hangover cure elixir. The next morning, I woke up feeling much better than I deserved with a guilty smile on my face โ it actually worked!
Now, you might be asking yourself, โWhy has this not been done before?โ After all, our history of drinking alcoholic beverages isย thousands of years old, and the idea of a hangover cure is nothing new. But as Zack explains, many of the remedies that have popped up over the years were based mostly on storytelling and brand, rather than actual science. โWe had to create something new to address the problem because nature didn’t have a solution,โ Zack says. โIf nature had a solution, humanity would’ve found it before 2019!โ
The idea of using science to tackle the gruesome hangover seemed like a great first step. โWe decided to do real science, and purpose-build a product that breaks down acetaldehyde. Itโs just one of the known byproducts of alcohol metabolism, but itโs a big one that had yet to really be addressed,โ Zack says. With the little ZBiotics bottle, Zack and his team have built the world’s first-ever genetically engineered probiotic to break down acetaldehyde, using an enzyme similar to one your liver naturally uses, to catabolize acetaldehyde and prevent a side effect of drinking.
Genetically engineered? You might be wondering, Is that safe? Well as Zack explains, โThe fact that a product is a GMO has very little to do with whether or not itโs safe.โ Genetic engineering is a technology that scientists can utilize to create new products by removing, adding, or changing an organismโs DNA and thereby its characteristics.
Without genetic engineering, we would have a hard time making enough insulin to save the worldโs diabetic patients, as most insulin today is โGMOโ. Genetic engineering also helps scientists study diseases such as Alzheimer’s by creating models to test new drugs or to understand the underlying mechanisms behind diseases.
Share this article
The idea to cure hangovers might seem a bit less pressing โ or as in my initial reaction โstupidโ โ when compared to curing diseases. But beginning with this product, ZBiotics has created a technology platform that enables them to work on โProbiotics 2.0โ โ the next steps for engineered probiotics.
โAs a start, we’re focusing on making bacteria that can help protect you from toxic compounds in the food and water you ingest, or help you absorb nutrients more efficiently, or help you resist infectious diseases,โ Zack says. โThe possibilities are practically endless.โ
With my positive experience in ZBioticsโ GMO probiotic saving my โday afterโ on a few occasions, I ask Zack if he, himself uses it.
โEvery time I drink (which honestly is actually quite infrequent these days because the company keeps me pretty busy). It saved my life at my bachelor party last summer. And it made for a pretty awesome wedding party favor for our guests a few months later!โ
Engineered probiotics and other microbes provide amazing opportunities for humanity. As Zack puts it: โHuman health, agriculture, climate change, materials science, and consumer goods will all see huge innovation and benefit in the next 50 years, thanks to engineered microbes.โ
John Cumbers is a synthetic biology networker, founder & investor, space bioengineer. Follow him on Twitter @johncumbers
A version of this article was originally published on Forbes’ website as “Hereโs A Must-Read Before Tonightโs Party: The Worldโs First GMO Probiotic Is Here To End All Hangovers โ And It Works” and has been republished here with permission.
