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Wasps are the only animal that can drink alcohol without limit

A new study by the School of Zoology and the Museum of Nature at Tel Aviv University examined the alcohol consumption of the eastern wasp (known as the bee) and found that no differences were found in the lifespan between wasps that consumed only alcohol throughout their lives (three months), and wasps that consumed water sugar

Eastern wasp. Photo: Shahar Shahar, Tel Aviv University Spokesperson
Eastern wasp. Photo: Shahar Shahar, Tel Aviv University Spokesperson

A new study by the Steinhardt School of Zoology and Museum of Nature at Tel Aviv University revealed: The eastern wasp (known as the bumblebee) is the only animal in nature that is able to consume alcohol chronically and in high concentrations, with almost no health effects or damage during life. The team of researchers: "This is a wonderful animal that does not show signs of intoxication or illness even after consuming huge amounts of alcohol."

The research was conducted under the leadership of postdoctoral fellow Dr. Sophia Bouchabati from the laboratory of Prof. Eran Levin, the School of Zoology and the Steinhardt Museum of Nature at Tel Aviv University. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

The researchers explain that alcohol is a common product of the breakdown of sugar by yeasts and bacteria in the natural world, mainly in ripe fruits and nectar. Also, although alcohol contains a lot of energy (almost twice as much as sugar), it is toxic to most animals and to us as humans, even in one-time use, but especially in chronic consumption. The animals we know as alcohol consumers are fruit flies, which show signs of poisoning already at low concentrations of alcohol, while wood shrews, a species of mammal that lives on trees in East Asia and feeds on ripe fruits rich in alcohol - shows signs of a fatty liver and other phenomena reminiscent of alcoholism when it consumes low concentrations of alcohol continuously for several days.

And as for us humans - many of us like to consume alcohol. Humans domesticated the wine preserve about 10 thousand years ago and relative to other animals, we are able and like to consume alcohol in a relatively high amount - but as we know alcohol has a very strong effect on a person's behavior and cognition and of course on his health - a host of diseases are attributed to the consumption of alcohol.

In the new study, the team of researchers tested the ability of the eastern wasp (known as a bee) to consume alcohol and break it down. Dr. Bouchabati explains: "Wasps naturally store yeast in their digestive system, where they receive unique conditions for development and sexual reproduction in which new strains of yeast are created. One of the explanations is that the yeasts are transferred to the fruits with the help of the wasps and indirectly - thanks to them we have wine. As part of the research, we marked the alcohol that the wasps consumed with a heavy isotope of carbon - the alcohol breaks down into carbon dioxide that is emitted in the breath and by measuring its amount it is possible to estimate how quickly the alcohol broke down. The findings were very surprising and we were amazed to see the rapid rate at which the wasps break down the alcohol."

In the next step, the researchers wanted to check whether the wasps get drunk? And does increased alcohol consumption affect their behavior, for example in aspects of aggressiveness or the ability to build a nest? Here too, the findings were surprising and it turned out that even under the consumption of high alcohol concentrations (80% alcohol as the sole source of nutrition) there was no apparent effect on the behavior of the wasps.

In the last phase of the study, the researchers tested whether alcohol at all affects the life span and health of the wasps, and in this test as well, they were amazed to discover that no differences were found in the life span between wasps that consumed only alcohol for their entire lives (three months), and wasps that consumed sugar water.

Prof. Eran Levin, School of Zoology and the Steinhardt Museum of Nature at Tel Aviv University
Prof. Eran Levin, School of Zoology and the Steinhardt Museum of Nature at Tel Aviv University. Photo: Shahar Shahar, spokeswoman for Tel Aviv University

Prof. Levin concludes: "To the best of our knowledge, wasps are the only animal in nature adapted to the consumption of alcohol as a metabolic fuel - they do not show signs of intoxication or sickness even with chronic consumption of huge amounts of alcohol and eliminate the alcohol from their bodies quickly. In a bioinformatic examination of the wasp genome done by Prof. Dorothea Hoshon, it was found that wasps have several copies of the gene responsible for creating the enzyme that breaks down alcohol, it is possible that this genetic adaptation is related to their wonderful ability to deal with alcohol. We suggest that the relationship between the wasps and the yeast is ancient and is the one that led to the development of this adaptation. In addition, admittedly, alcohol research is very developed - 5.3% of deaths in the world are related to alcohol consumption. But in our opinion, following our research, it will be possible in the future to also use wasps to develop models for research on alcoholism and alcohol metabolism."

for the scientific article

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