Humans and some other great apes share an unusual adaptation: They can metabolize ethyl alcohol – the intoxicating ingredient in beer, wine and cocktail spirits – 40 times more efficiently than other primates.
This genetic change – called the A294V mutation by scientists – gave the last common ancestor of African apes and humans two things: the ability to consume fermented fruits, and a reason to gather in large groups in a relaxed atmosphere. That’s the conclusion of a recently published paper by researchers from the University of St Andrews and Dartmouth College.
When the mutation came along, it made it possible for animals who had it to take advantage of fruit that was toxic to others. And so they thrived.
The study’s authors put these facts together and reasonably assume that eating perfectly edible fallen fruit was far less dangerous and tiring – and just as rewarding – as trying to get at the fresher stuff.
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Bottom line: The ability to tolerate alcoholic fruit may have encouraged early hominid socialization. Later, humanity’s love of alcohol may even have driven the rise of agriculture and civilization.
