Free Republic

But the gene doesn’t seem to have always been a problem. If scientists had studied FTO just a few decades ago, they would have found no link to weight whatsoever. A new study shows that FTO became a risk only in people born after World War II. The research, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, raises questions that extend far beyond obesity. Genes clearly influence our health in many ways, but so does our environment; often, it is the interplay between them that makes the difference in whether we develop obesity or cancer or...

jolson@pioneerpress.com Research applies to weight gain that comes with age A gene common to mice and men may be partly responsible for the rising rate of obesity that comes with age. Researchers at the University of Minnesota had been studying the so-called Girk4 gene in mice for its role in heart defects, but then noticed that removing the gene caused mice to gain weight over time. "This was not an outcome we expected, but now we have an animal model that may provide new insight into human obesity," said Kevin Wickman, an associate professor of pharmacology at the U. Drug...