The genetics of obesity: from discovery to biology.
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Publication Date
2022-02Journal Title
Nat Rev Genet
ISSN
1471-0056
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Language
eng
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Loos, R. J., & Yeo, G. (2022). The genetics of obesity: from discovery to biology.. Nat Rev Genet https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-021-00414-z
Abstract
The prevalence of obesity has tripled over the past four decades, imposing an enormous burden on people's health. Polygenic (or common) obesity and rare, severe, early-onset monogenic obesity are often polarized as distinct diseases. However, gene discovery studies for both forms of obesity show that they have shared genetic and biological underpinnings, pointing to a key role for the brain in the control of body weight. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) with increasing sample sizes and advances in sequencing technology are the main drivers behind a recent flurry of new discoveries. However, it is the post-GWAS, cross-disciplinary collaborations, which combine new omics technologies and analytical approaches, that have started to facilitate translation of genetic loci into meaningful biology and new avenues for treatment.
Sponsorship
MRC (MC_UU_00014/1)
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12012/1)
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12012/5)
MRC (MR/S026193/1)
MRC (MC_UU_00014/5)
Identifiers
PMC8459824, 34556834
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-021-00414-z
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/329892
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