A few moths ago we brought you the news about the discovery of a gene variant that can lead to obesity as carriers of the variant gene appeared to have an inbuilt propensity to carry extra weight. Further work has been done on this discovery and it now appears that the FTO gene can directly act on DNA to alter it. This suggests that the variant FTO gene might be able to switch other genes on and off.
The FTO gene is found in large quantities in the hypothalamus of the brain which is the region that controls hunger and satiety. A lot of work still needs to be done to discover exactly how the FTO gene works but it does appear that it has a role in the brain’s ability to sense hunger and fullness. As the activity of FTO can be altered by molecules it is possible that therapeutic compounds can be created which will manipulate the FTO and lead to the development of new weight loss drugs.