A study released by Fudan University in the UK's journal Annuals of Human Genetics earlier this month found that people of East Asian descent, and particularly, Han Chinese, about 70 percent of the latter, in fact, carry the H7 gene，a variant of alcohol dehydrogenase 1B (ADH-1-B) which enables carriers to effectively reduce the amount of toxins found in alcohol.
Researchers from Fudan University's Human Genetics Laboratory studied 9,200 samples from 46 races over the span of a year.
The H7 gene was first found in Han Chinese some 2,800 years ago during the Spring and Autumn Period, when Chinese agriculture was rapidly developing and grains were used to make alcohol in China, said Li Hui, director of the laboratory that conducted the study.
"Over time, grains have the ability to produce toxins if they aren't properly stored," Li, told the Global Times Wednesday. "In ancient times, a lot of Chinese people died after eating them.
"Only those who could break down the toxins in the grains survived," he said. "The gene was then strengthened over the years among Han Chinese, and was passed down from generation to generation."
Li said that European races failed to inherit the gene because unlike Chinese people, they tended to use fruits rather than grains to make alcohol."
"Even after the Middle Ages, Europeans rarely brewed alcohol from grains," he said. "Therefore, grain-based alcohol played a much weaker role in the gene selection of European races."
The theory further explains why a majority of Chinese nomad ethnic minorities also lack the gene，he added.
But, just because Chinese people have the gene, their ability to consume endless amounts of grain-based alcohols - such as the Chinese staple, baijiu, derived from a concoction of rice, wheat, barley and/or corn - is not guaranteed, said Li.
"They'll still be in trouble if they lack the ability to properlydigest alcohol," he suggested.


据《环球时报》7月14日报道：上海复旦大学研究发现，具有东亚血统的人，尤其是70%的汉族人体内都含有一种名叫H7的基因。作为乙醇脱氢酶-1B(ADH1B)的第7型变种，H7基因能帮助饮酒者有效分解酒精中的毒素。此项研究成果于本月初发表在英国《人类遗传学年报》上。


复旦大学人类遗传学实验室研究人员历时一年，对9200个来自46个不同种族的样本进行了研究。


此项目研究室负责人李辉说，H7基因在2800年前春秋时期的汉人身上首次被发现。当时中国农业发展迅速，谷物被用来酿酒。


"如果存储不当，谷物会随着时间的推移产生毒素，古时候很多人因此致死。"李辉在周三接受《环球时报》采访时说。


"只有那些能抵抗过谷物中毒素的人才能存活下来。在汉族人中，这种基因就逐年加强，并代代相传"。

但欧洲的种族之所以没有传承这种基因，是因为他们用水果而非谷物来酿酒，李辉说。


"即便到了中世纪以后，欧洲人还是很少用谷物酿酒"，李辉表示。"因此，谷物酒在欧洲种族的基因选择中起到的作用非常小"。

这一理论进一步解释了我国大部分游牧少数民族也缺乏这种基因的原因，李辉补充道。

但李辉同时表示，仅仅因为中国人拥有这种基因，并不能保证他们在喝诸如大米、小麦、大麦、玉米等谷物混合酿成的中国特色白酒时就能达到海量。

"如果他们无法正确地消化酒精，还是会喝醉"， 李辉指出。

• journal [´dʒə:nəl] n.日记；日报；杂志 (初中英语单词)
• alcohol [´ælkəhɔl] n.酒精；醇 (初中英语单词)
• amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)
• agriculture [´ægrikʌltʃə] n.农业；农事 (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• ability [ə´biliti] n.(办事)能力；才干 (初中英语单词)
• properly [´prɔpəli] ad.适当地；严格地 (初中英语单词)
• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
• generation [,dʒenə´reiʃən] n.发生；世代；同龄人 (初中英语单词)
• european [juərə´pi:ən] a.欧洲的 n.欧洲人 (初中英语单词)
• unlike [,ʌn´laik] a.不同的 prep.不象... (初中英语单词)
• rarely [´reəli] ad.难得；非凡地 (初中英语单词)
• consume [kən´sju:m] v.毁灭；浪费；憔悴 (初中英语单词)
• digest [di´dʒest] v.消化 n.摘要；文摘 (初中英语单词)
• descent [di´sent] n.出身，家世 (高中英语单词)
• laboratory [lə´bɔrətəri] n.实验室；研究室(所) (高中英语单词)
• studied [´stʌdid] a.故意的；有计划的 (高中英语单词)
• inherit [in´herit] v.继承；遗传 (高中英语单词)
• selection [si´lekʃən] n.选择；选拔；精选物 (高中英语单词)
• barley [´bɑ:li] n.大麦 (高中英语单词)
• staple [´steipəl] n.&vt.(用)钉书钉 (英语四级单词)
• effectively [i´fektivli] ad.有效地 (英语六级单词)