Health
Scientists Find New Genetic Triggers for Obesity Risk
- Gene variant increases risk of obesity as much as six times
- Better understanding the disease could identify new drugs
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Researchers believe they have discovered a new biological mechanism for obesity, pointing to rare variants on two genes that dramatically increase the risk of carrying excess weight.
Research published in the journal Nature Genetics on Thursday points to variants that raise the chance of being obese by as much a six times. Unlike other known variants that affect weight gain in children, these only appear to play a role in adults.