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The genetics of obesity: from discovery to biology.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

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.

Description

Keywords

Animals, Eating, Gene-Environment Interaction, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Variation, Genome, Human, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Multifactorial Inheritance, Obesity, Overweight, Whole Genome Sequencing

Journal Title

Nat Rev Genet

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1471-0056
1471-0064

Volume Title

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
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)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/S017593/1)
Medical Research Council (MC_PC_12012)