A study published in Nature Genetics has revealed that a gene, referred to as the master regulator gene, is the cause of obesity and related health conditions. The discovery of the gene means that the quest to find better treatment for diseases such as diabetes will be greatly aided.
The discovery was made when a research team from Kings College and the University of Oxford took fat biopsies from sets of female twins from beneath the surface of the skin. The samples were examined along with the 20,000 genes found inside the fat cells. They exposed a gene called KLF14 which they found to control the levels of distant genes that were found within the fat cells.
The second part of the study involved harvesting 600 fat samples from a group of people in Iceland in order to prove and cement initial findings.
The team discovered that the gene has a massive effect on one’s predisposition to: obesity, diabetes and heart disease and is inherited from the mother. The father’s KFL14 gene is inactive and not passed on. Much research will now be carried out in the area and hopes are high for a treatment that will control the KFL14 gene.