How the 'obesity gene' triggers weight gain (UK)

A UK led international team of researchers has discovered why people with a variation of a certain gene are more likely to become obese. The obesity-risk FTO variant gene affects one in six people who are 70% more likely to become obese. The FTO gene's role in obesity was first discovered in 2007. People with the gene have higher levels of the 'hunger hormone', ghrelin, in their blood which makes them feel hungry again just after eating. One in 4 adults in the UK are now obese and the numbers are rising. The new study was led by scientists at University College London, the Medical Research Council and King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry. Twenty healthy weight male volunteers were used in the trial rather than people who were already overweight. "As soon as you've become overweight, then all of your body systems behave in a different manner, and you don't know which is cause or consequence," says Dr Rachel Batterham from UCL and University College London Hospitals who led the study. Ten of those taking part had the FTO gene, the other 10 didn't. Even within this normal weight range group, people with the FTO gene were likely to have more body fat