Obesity genes unveiled

Monday April 8th, 2013

Seven new genes have been linked to obesity, it was announced last night.

Researchers say the findings show that genes lying behind extreme obesity are also linked to milder forms of being overweight.

The researchers say their findings suggest extreme obesity is linked to combinations of genes rather than individual ones.

The research, involving a study of some 260,000 people, also identified four new genes linked to height.

Researchers from Uppsala University, Sweden, reported their findings in Nature Genetics.

Researcher Erik Ingelsson said: "This knowledge is important because it increases the biological understanding of the origins of extreme obesity as well as milder forms of obesity.

"Our results suggest that extremely obese individuals have a greater number of gene variants that increase the risk of obesity, rather than completely different genes being involved.

"In the long term, our findings may lead to new ways of preventing and treating obesity, which is one of the greatest global public health problems of our age."

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 11 new loci for anthropometric traits and provides insights into genetic architecture. Nature Genetics 7 April 2013.

Tags: Diet & Food | Europe | Genetics

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