DNA variants help pile fat on fat
May 5th, 2008 - 3:21 pm ICT by admin
Washington, May 5 (IANS) New genetic variants could trigger fat mass, weight and risk of obesity, a study of 90,000 people conducted jointly by 77 global institutions has said. For example, rare but highly disruptive variants in the MC4R gene were shown to be responsible for very severe genetic forms of obesity.
“This collaboration has uncovered more common variants that affect more people,” explained Ruth Loos, co-author of the study and a member of the Medical Research Council (MRC) epidemiology unit.
The variants act in addition to the recently described variants of the FTO gene; adults carrying both the variants, on average, are nearly four kg heavier.
“This is a great example of how cooperation can bring about new findings that can be missed when researchers work in isolation,” explains In
Tags: biological consequences, co author, common disease, common diseases, dramatic effect, forms of obesity, fto gene, genetic approach, genetic variants, global institutions, loos, mark mccarthy, mass weight, medical research council, precise role, rare diseases, risk of obesity, university of oxford, wellcome trust sanger, wellcome trust sanger institute