University of Virginia scientists, including Eyleen O'Rourke of UVA's College of Arts & Sciences, recently identified 14 genes associated with obesity and three genes associated with preventing weight gain, paving the way for new obesity therapies and treatments.
"We know of hundreds of gene variants that are more likely to show up in individuals suffering obesity and other diseases. But 'more likely to show up' does not mean causing the disease," says Eyleen O'Rourke of UVA's College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Medicine's Department of Cell Biology and the Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center. "…Our first round of experiments uncovered more than a dozen genes that cause and three genes that prevent obesity.