{"id":145255,"date":"2015-08-21T12:05:22","date_gmt":"2015-08-21T12:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=145255"},"modified":"2015-08-21T11:08:23","modified_gmt":"2015-08-21T11:08:23","slug":"scientists-discover-how-the-obesity-gene-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/scientists-discover-how-the-obesity-gene-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists discover how the Obesity gene works"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists have finally figured out how the key gene tied to obesity makes people fat, a major discovery that could open the door to an entirely new approach to the problem beyond diet and exercise.<\/p>\n

The work solves a big mystery: Since 2007, researchers have known that a gene called FTO was related to obesity, but they didn\u2019t know how, and could not tie it to appetite or other known factors.<\/p>\n

Now experiments reveal that a faulty version of the gene causes energy from food to be stored as fat rather than burned. Genetic tinkering in mice and on human cells in the lab suggests this can be reversed, giving hope that a drug or other treatment might be developed to do the same in people.<\/p>\n

The work was led by scientists at MIT and Harvard University and published online Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine.<\/p>\n

The discovery challenges the notion that \u201cwhen people get obese it was basically their own choice because they choose to eat too much or not exercise,\u201d said study leader Melina Claussnitzer, a genetics specialist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. \u201cFor the first time, genetics has revealed a mechanism in obesity that was not really suspected before\u201d and gives a third explanation or factor that\u2019s involved.<\/p>\n

Independent experts praised the discovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big deal,\u201d said Dr. Clifford Rosen, a scientist at Maine Medical Center Research Institute and an associate editor at the medical journal.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people think the obesity epidemic is all about eating too much,\u201d but our fat cells play a role in how food gets used, he said. With this discovery, \u201cyou now have a pathway for drugs that can make those fat cells work differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several obesity drugs are already on the market, but they are generally used for short-term weight loss and are aimed at the brain and appetite; they don\u2019t directly target metabolism.<\/p>\n

Researchers can\u2019t guess how long it might take before a drug based on the new findings becomes available. But it\u2019s unlikely it would be a magic pill that would enable people to eat anything they want without packing on the pounds. And targeting this fat pathway could affect other things, so a treatment would need rigorous testing to prove safe and effective.<\/p>\n

The gene glitch doesn\u2019t explain all obesity. It was found in 44 percent of Europeans but only 5 percent of blacks, so other genes clearly are at work, and food and exercise still buy valium online<\/a> matter.<\/p>\n

Having the glitch doesn\u2019t destine you to become obese but may predispose you to it. People with two faulty copies of the gene (one from Mom and one from Dad) weighed an average of 7 pounds more than those without them. But some were obviously a lot heavier than that, and even 7 pounds can be the difference between a healthy and an unhealthy weight, said Manolis Kellis, a professor at MIT.<\/p>\n

He and Claussnitzer are seeking a patent related to the work. It was done on people in Europe, Sweden and Norway, and funded by the German Research Center for Environmental Health and others, including the U.S. National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n

Researchers can\u2019t guess how long it might take before a drug based on the new findings becomes available. But it\u2019s unlikely it would be a magic pill that would enable people to eat anything they want without packing on the pounds. And targeting this fat pathway could affect other things, so a treatment would need rigorous testing to prove safe and effective.<\/p>\n

The gene glitch doesn\u2019t explain all obesity. It was found in 44 percent of Europeans but only 5 percent of blacks, so other genes clearly are at work, and food and exercise still matter.<\/p>\n

Having the glitch doesn\u2019t destine you to become obese but may predispose you to it. People with two faulty copies of the gene (one from Mom and one from Dad) weighed an average of 7 pounds more than those without them. But some were obviously a lot heavier than that, and even 7 pounds can be the difference between a healthy and an unhealthy weight, said Manolis Kellis, a professor at MIT.<\/p>\n

He and Claussnitzer are seeking a patent related to the work. It was done on people in Europe, Sweden and Norway, and funded by the German Research Center for Environmental Health and others, including the U.S. National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a potential target\u201d for drug development, said Dr. Sam Klein, an obesity researcher at Washington University in St. Louis. He called the work \u201can amazing study\u201d and \u201ca scientific tour de force.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Rudolph Leibel, an obesity expert at Columbia University in New York, used the same term \u2014 \u201ctour de force.\u201d Still, some earlier research suggests the FTO gene may influence other aspects of obesity such as behavior and appetite.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s possible there are several mechanisms being affected,\u201d and that fat-burning is not the whole story, he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: Yahoo News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scientists have finally figured out how the key gene tied to obesity makes people fat, a major discovery that could open the door to an entirely new approach to the problem beyond diet and exercise. The work solves a big mystery: Since 2007, researchers have known that a gene called FTO was related to obesity, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":39195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[15],"yoast_head":"\nScientists discover how the Obesity gene works - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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