Beam Me Up a Cold One
For any Trekkie who isn’t solely focused on TOS (The Original Series for those not in the know), synthehol is a familiar drink on the show that doesn’t exist in real life. It’s supposed to be an alcohol substitute that gives all the intoxicating benefits of the substance but without the unpleasant side-effects such as hangovers.
Well, a psychopharmacologist at the University of Bristol in the UK, Professor David Nutt, belives that it could now be created. Mind you, it doesn’t actually exist yet. However, “partial agonists” of GABA-A receptors, the molecules that alcohol interacts with in the brain, already exist. As a result, we could be close to a new discovery that would enable us to drink fake alcohol, enjoy it, and ward off diseases like cirrhosis of the liver.
