Scientists have acquired new insight into how the ‘obesity gene’ triggers weight gain in some individuals. Their findings, reported online today in Science Express, could have implications for the future treatment of obesity as well as adult onset diabetes.Earlier this year a team of British geneticists discovered that variation in a gene called FTO influence people’s risk of becoming obese. While genetic defects causing human obesity had been previously described, the FTO discovery was of considerable interest because the genetic variant in FTO that predisposes to obesity is very common.
