Obesity is linked to several serious diseases, including type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. In general, the more you weigh, the greater your risk of developing obesity-related illnesses. With the incidence and prevalence of obesity increasing in many countries around the world, investigating how obesity is affected and influenced by gene expression, and vice versa, is of increasing importance.
In 2007, scientists from the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, and from the University of Oxford in Cambridge, England, published a study in journal, Science, announcing that they had discovered a gene that proved there is a genetic link to obesity.
The gene, which they termed FTO, was discovered in a genomic study of two thousand people with type two diabetes, and three thousand healthy control subjects. The researchers discovered that the gene had allelic variations, one of which strongly correlated to an increased Body Mass Index.
Next, they extended their survey to a total of 37,000 genetic samples of the gene from several regions in the U.K., as well as samples from populations in Finland.
The results? People with a copy of the FTO allele had a 30% higher risk of obesity, in comparison to a person without the allele. A person with two copies of the allele had a 70% increased risk of obesity and was on average 6.6 pounds (3 kilos) heavier than a person with no copies of the allele.
In addition, because of the effect weight has on the risk of developing type two diabetes, people with one copy of the FTO allele had a 25% higher risk of developing the disease, while for people with two copies, the risk was increased by 50%.
This research points to a genetic link which may increase the risk of becoming obese, but it is not by any means the full story. The scientists who conducted the research are quick to point out that this link is only the first step, and that there is no information about how the FTO allele influences the risk of becoming obese, or why it happens.
And does it mean you can blame your weight on your genes? Nope. The FTO allele might influence how easy or difficult it is for an individual to gain or lose weight, but it’s not the deciding factor. There may one day be the potential for some type of genetic therapy to help obese people lose weight more easily, but what you eat (and how much you exercise) is still the key.