Genetic mutation provides clues to battling childhood obesity
Thursday, October 24, 2013 - 14:00
in Biology & Nature
A new paper identifies a possible genetic root to the insatiable appetite and slow metabolism of some obese patients. The study, which sequenced 2,101 individuals with severe early-onset obesity, found that patients harboring mutations in a particular gene, KSR2, had an increased appetite and a slower metabolism, suggesting that drugs developed to modulate the activity of the protein encoded by the KSR2 gene could provide new treatment options for obesity and Type 2 diabetes.