Countering the damaging effects of alcohol is a long-held fantasy – one that’s now being fuelled by the findings of Swiss researchers who have developed a gel that promises to prevent intoxication while also reducing its negative effects.

Outlined by NewScientist magazine and published in the journal Nature NanoTechnology, this ETH Zurich research involves preventing alcohol from transforming into acetaldehyde, which can damage the liver. Toxic to the body, this organic compound interacts with DNA and can cause cell damage.

A better option would be for the body to break down alcohol into acetic acid. This is one of the compounds found in spirit vinegar, which is colourless and an antiseptic.

Swiss scientists therefore developed an edible gel based on a milk protein and iron that mimics the action of an enzyme, so that alcohol is converted into acetic acid rather than acetaldehyde.

The gel was tested on a group of mice. Some of them ingested ethanol as they wished, without restriction, for 10 days. The rodents then consumed the gel, and their blood alcohol levels reduced by over 55% after four hours. Acetaldehyde levels also fell sharply after they consumed the gel.

At the same time, the scientists report that mice that consumed both alcohol and the gel for 10 days had organs that were just as healthy as those of mice who had not drunk alcohol at all.

This invention could be particularly interesting as a preventative measure before drinking alcohol.

“If you ingest this gel before you drink, most of the alcohol you drink is converted into acetic acid,” Raffaele Mezzenga of ETH Zurich in Switzerland told New Scientist.

“That means alcohol doesn’t cross into the bloodstream and you don’t suffer from the side effects.”