by Playfuls Staff |
13th April 2007
Geneticists from Oxford University and Peninsula Medical School in Exeter have made a remarkable discovery: they have linked a specific gene to obesity, for the first time in history.
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The researchers spent 15 years analyzing the DNA and health of more than 40,000 adults and children before identifying a gene called FTO. The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust, a British medical charity, and reported in the journal Science.
It warns that the people at greatest risk are those who carry two flawed versions of FTO. Those who have inherited just one flawed gene are 30 per cent more likely to be obese and 25 per cent more likely to develop diabetes than those who have two normal copies.
According to the scientists, the genetic make-up of one in six Britons increases their risk of becoming dangerously overweight by 70 per cent and their chance of developing diabetes by a half.
Exeter researcher Professor Mark Hattersley said: “As a nation, we are eating more but doing less exercise, and so the average weight is increasing. But within the population some people seem to put on more weight than others.
“Our findings suggest a possible answer to someone who might ask ‘I eat the same and do as much exercise as my friend next door, so why am I fatter?’ There is clearly a component to obesity that is genetic.”
Though FTO has a role in obesity, scientists have yet to determine what it consists of specifically.
“Even though we have yet to fully understand the role played by the FTO gene in obesity, our findings are a source of great excitement,” says Professor Mark McCarthy from the University of Oxford. “By identifying this genetic link, it should be possible to improve our understanding of why some people are more obese, with all the associated implications such as increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. New scientific insights will hopefully pave the way for us to explore novel ways of treating this condition.”
McCarthy urged people not to get the idea that losing weight is out of their control, saying: “Being overweight is probably a combination of genes and other factors and people still have control over these other factors and are still able to lose weight. Many people have this variant but are not overweight.”
He added: “The work we are going to do down the line might translate into new ways of treating or preventing obesity. That is the chink of light these discoveries translate.”
One hope raised by this report is the possibility of coming up with a treatment with drugs that work best on a particular genetic make-up. This does not mean though that people should indulge in an unhealthy life style, counting on drugs to solve their problems for them.
The obesity researchers have also warned that there are other, as yet undiscovered, genes involved in obesity.
