New research has been published providing further information on the link between obesity and a genetic predisposition to weight gain. Scientists have suspected for some time that there is a gene which will program our bodies as to how much weight we put on, the FTO gene. It is believed that people with a high-risk type of gene can weigh up to 3kg more than those without the gene. The new study, published in the online journal Nature, seems to indicate that this gene controls metabolic rates.
Scientists from the University of Dusseldorf examined mice to see what impact the gene had on the rate at which they burned off calories from food. They found that those mice that did not have the gene remained thin, despite eating a lot and not being active. They also discovered that those missing the FTO gene had retarded growth after birth because they were burning up energy at a much faster rate.
It had previously been thought that the FTO gene controlled food intake and appetite but the findings imply that this may have been too simplistic an explanation. An expert in metabolism at Cambridge University, Professor Stephen O’Rahilly, said it was a ‘bit puzzling’ as though other recent studies had had shown the gene to impact on food consumption it did not impact on the speed at which food was burned off. He added “This work provides a crucial piece of evidence supporting the notion that the FTO gene itself is likely to be involved in the effects of common human genetic variants on body fat."
It is hoped that as more is learnt about the FTO gene new treatments will result, helping to combat the global obesity crisis.