 A remarkably higher frequency of acute alcohol intoxication among East Asians than among Caucasians could be related to the absence of a catalytically active form of the mitochondrial isozyme.The increased exposure to acetaldehyde in individuals with the catalytically inactive form may also confer greater susceptibility to many types of cancer.The ALDH2 gene is about 44 kbp in length and contains at least 13 exons which encode 517 amino acid residues.