Free Health Information and More for You and Your Family, Updated Weekly
Researchers Unlock Secrets of Obesity Gene
LONDON, Nov. 9 (UPI)
-- British scientists say they've discovered some of the ways an obesity
gene can trigger weight gain in some people.
Geneticists
earlier this year discovered a variation in a gene called FTO that can
influence a person's risk of becoming obese. Now researchers from the University
of Cambridge, Oxford University and Cancer Research UK, London, have found
that the protein corresponding to the FTO is an enzyme that modifies DNA,
Britain's Telegraph newspaper said Friday.
The researchers
also found that FTO is highly expressed in a region of the brain, called
the hypothalamus, which has important roles in the control of hunger and
satiety.
Carriers of
the variant are an average of 3.5 pounds heavier than those who don't have
the variant. Those who carry two copies of the variant are about 6.5 pounds
heavier, the earlier study found.
