Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, I'm more in Vogelbaum, and today's episode is
Speaker 1: another classic from our former host, Christian Sager. Goldfish can
Speaker 1: be very sturdy creatures, and part of the reason is
Speaker 1: that they make their own alcohol. Here's how and why
Speaker 1: they do it. Hey brain Stuff, it's Christian Sager. Goldfish
Speaker 1: don't need teeny tiny moonshine stills. These little guys. They
Speaker 1: can actually handle homebrewing all by themselves, as evidenced by
Speaker 1: the findings of a recent study published in the journal
Speaker 1: Scientific Reports. Although they don't distill whiskey, goldfish have long
Speaker 1: been known for their ability to make their own alcohol.
Speaker 1: Until now, though scientists have puzzled over how they manage
Speaker 1: this phenomenon. So why would a fish need to make alcohol?
Speaker 1: The ability is seen in both goldfish and it's wild relative,
Speaker 1: the Crucian carp Both are from the genus Kara sous,
Speaker 1: which often live in conditions that would be completely unthinkable
Speaker 1: for other species. Typically, a vertebrate can only survive minutes
Speaker 1: without oxygen, but these species have evolved to the point
Speaker 1: where they can last four or five months in oxygen
Speaker 1: deprived environments. Like the bottoms of rivers, frozen lakes, and
Speaker 1: even your poorly cleaned aquarium at home. When a creature
Speaker 1: is left without oxygen, it typically experiences a build up
Speaker 1: of lactic acid, which can turn toxic. However, these particular
Speaker 1: fish have two sets of proteins in their muscles rather
Speaker 1: than the usual one. The second set of proteins get
Speaker 1: activated when there isn't any oxygen and changes lactic acid
Speaker 1: into ethanol. This biochemical adaptation allows the fish to diffuse
Speaker 1: the substance into the water, helping them prevent the life
Speaker 1: threatening condition lactic acidosis. Now on fiz dot org. University
Speaker 1: of Liverpool evolutionary biologists Michael Baron Brink explains how these
Speaker 1: fish pull it off during their time in oxygen free
Speaker 1: water in ice covered ponds, which can last for several
Speaker 1: months in their Northern European habitat. Blood alcohol concentrations in
Speaker 1: Crucian carp can reach more than fifty milligrams per one
Speaker 1: hundred milli leaders, which is above the drink and drive
Speaker 1: limit in these countries. However, this is still a much
Speaker 1: better situation than filling up with lactic acid, which is
Speaker 1: the metabolic end product for other vertebrates, including humans, when
Speaker 1: devoid of oxygen. Now this ability has turned these species
Speaker 1: of fish into quite the Darwinian geniuses in the study.
Speaker 1: The research explains that the evolution of the ethanol producing
Speaker 1: pathway has not only made the goldfish one of the
Speaker 1: most arguably resilient pets under human care, but has also
Speaker 1: clearly provided karasus with unique ecological benefits, allowing survival in
Speaker 1: waters that are uninhabitable for other fish, thereby evading pisicene
Speaker 1: predation and interspecific competition. And check this out. The mad
Speaker 1: skills of the Crucian carp don't end with alcohol production.
Speaker 1: Historical accounts claim that they can survive several hours out
Speaker 1: of water or even several days with a frozen outer layer.
Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Alio Hoitt and produced by
Speaker 1: Dylan Fagan and Tyler Clang. For more in this and
Speaker 1: lots of other topics, visit house to works dot com.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts
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