Slanted Science

“I’ve got thyroid problems.”
“I’m just big boned.”
“I eat way more calories than I need, even if I were to run two marathons every single day of my life. That is why rolls of my abdominal fat are spilling over the armrest onto your seat.”

People use all sorts of excuses to justify their weight problems (though admittedly, the third example above – honesty – is a rare one). Well, scientists are now reporting that they have found a gene whose loss is associated with compulsive eating an obesity. Expect to hear it used some time very soon.

The research was carried out in Cambridge, England, and was headed by Drs Sadaf Farooqi (University of Cambridge) and Matt Hurles (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute). They and their team of boffins examined the genomic DNA of 300 obese children, looking for copy number variations (CNVs).

CNVs are regions of DNA, encompassing one or more actual genes, which vary from the usual two copies in some individuals. Such gains and losses of genetic material, because they are seen in a small but significant fraction of the population, can be used as indicators that one of the genes in the region is involved with a particular genetic condition.

In this case, the CNV of interest which they detected was on Chromosome #16. Over to Dr Farooqi:

Our results suggest that one particular gene on chromosome 16 called SH2B1 plays a key role in regulating weight and also in handling blood sugar levels. People with deletions involving this gene had a strong drive to eat and gained weight very easily.

But sadly for gymophobes everywhere, this genomic deletion of SH2B1is not the cause of the plain old “could do with losing a few pounds” obesity. The people affected are more likely to live by the rule of “my motto is one that cannot be beat: eat not to live, but live to eat“. Dr Farooqi again, talking about the affected kids:

They have a very strong drive to eat. They’re very, very hungry, they always want to eat.

In fact, these children are so fat, and so obsessed with food, that this study has actually caused the local Social Services to give two kids back to their parents. They had been removed previously by officials who believed that their out-of-control eating was a sign of bad/abusive parenting.

Don’t Hold Your Breath, But This May Lead To: perhaps gene therapy, aiming to replace the missing gene in these people. Or a drug, capable of activating the same molecular switches as SH2B1.

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