This gene is one of three aldo-keto reductase genes that are present in a cluster on the p arm of chromosome 1. The encoded proteins are involved in the reduction of the dialdehyde protein-binding form of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) to the non-binding AFB1 dialcohol. It has been speculated that this family member encodes a selenoprotein, which includes a selenocysteine (Sec) residue in lieu of a UGA translational termination codon. However, there is no evidence that such a protein is produced in vivo. The alternative interpretation is that this family member is a segregating pseudogene, where some individuals have an allele that encodes a functional enzyme, while other individuals have an allele encoding a protein that is predicted to be non-functional. [provided by RefSeq, Feb 2017].