Genetic Research On Obesity

The amount of money pouring into obesity related research is still rising and the latest discovery is that obesity may have genetic connection. But before you go and start to blame the fact that you are overweight on your genes, the scientists are keen to stress that a fat gene is extremely rare and in fact they put the figure at about one person in five thousand. Nevertheless these people who suffer from the fat gene will experience very strong pangs of hunger, much more than normal people and the condition can be a terrible one to live with.

The research conducted in Dallas in the United States has been going on for more than 10 years and the scientists have been trying to really pinpoint the obesity gene using mice with excessive appetites. The discovery of the most important obesity gene was found in one of the mice at the research facility when 2 genetically similiar mice where studied and then one was bred with a genetic mutation which regulated a section of the brain that controls eating patterns.

The scientists noted that this mouse would eat much more than the other mouse and also would use up less calories over the course of the day. This mouse ended up with a severe obesity problem weighing nearly fifty percent more that the other mouse.

The scientists were also keen to stress that the obesity epidemic in the western world has nothing to do with this obesity gene and that it was simply beacause people were eating too much and not doing enough exercise. The culture of eating too much in restaurants and the emphasis on quantity rather than quality in eating has to stop.