Friday, 30 March 2018

human biology - How many, and how severe, are known single gene polymorphisms for obesity?



A fairly recent meta-analysis of studies examining the association between adult obesity and polymorphisms of the FTO gene (Peng et al., 2011). The paper looked at 59 studies and concluded that, "FTO may represent a low-penetrance susceptible gene for obesity risk", although the association was weaker (or non-existent) for some ethnic groups.


Are other polymorphic genes which are currently known to be more strongly associated with obesity risk than the FTO gene?



Answer



MC4R, TMEM18, GNPDA2, KCTD15, NEGR1, BDNF, ETV5, MTCH2, and SH2B1 have also been identified as being associated with adult onset obesity risk, however FTO currently appears to be the one with the strongest evidence. For example see Thorleifsson et al. (2009), Elks et al. (2010) and Willer (2009)


No comments:

Post a Comment

evolution - Are there any multicellular forms of life which exist without consuming other forms of life in some manner?

The title is the question. If additional specificity is needed I will add clarification here. Are there any multicellular forms of life whic...