Can reduce the dialdehyde protein-binding form of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) to the non-binding AFB1 dialcohol. May be involved in protection of liver against the toxic and carcinogenic effects of AFB1, a potent hepatocarcinogen (By similarity). Mainly expressed in uterus. Belongs to the aldo/keto reductase family. Aldo/keto reductase 2 subfamily. AKR7L is both a gene and a pseudogene in the human population, the reference genome corresponding currently to the non-functional allele with a stop codon at position 106 (GRCh38/hg38). The sequence shown here with a Arg at position 106 is the one of the functional protein. The functional allele is rare. It has been speculated that AKR7L encodes a selenoprotein, which includes a selenocysteine (Sec) residue in lieu of a UGA translational termination codon at position 106 (PubMed:12879023). However, there is no evidence that such a protein is produced in vivo. =Erroneous CDS prediction.