Scientists discovered gene variants that increase the risk of excessive weight gain in women during pregnancy, which is directly associated with excessive weight in newborns. The findings of the study, “MC4R and ENPP1 gene polymorphisms and their implication in maternal and neonatal risk for obesity,” were published in…
Rhythm Pharmaceuticals is planning to expand its ongoing Phase 2 basket study investigating setmelanotide as an obesity treatment. The enlarged trial will include four additional genetic obesity disorders caused by an abnormal melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) pathway. The announcement comes after genetic screening of nearly 14,000 patients with…
The genetic factors influencing weight do not remain the same throughout a person’s life, according to a large genome-wide analysis of early growth traits. In babies, the set of genetic variants determining body mass index (BMI, a measure of body fat) plays no part in adult obesity. But interestingly,…
A genetic predisposition towards obesity can increase stress in early life, which may make people more likely to develop depression in adulthood, a new study suggests. The study, “A Polygenic Score for Body Mass Index is Associated with Depressive Symptoms via Early Life Stress: Evidence for Gene-Environment…
Genetic risk of obesity appears to influence how much weight a person loses after bariatric surgery, with people genetically prone to slimness losing less weight after the procedure, a study suggests. In the future, genetic risk scores may help clinicians choose treatment strategies for patients with morbid obesity. The…
A noninvasive procedure that treats obesity by changing the electrical activity in certain regions of the brain only reduces appetite in people with a certain genetic variation, a study has found. In those without the variation, the procedure — called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) — actually causes a…
By looking at the genetic backgrounds of nearly 30,000 individuals from different ethnic groups, scientists have identified a new genetic variant associated with childhood obesity and confirmed 18 others. Results from the study with that finding, “A Trans-ancestral Meta-Analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies Reveals Loci Associated with Childhood…
Rare diseases deeply affect not only the children who experience them, but also their healthy brothers and sisters, as their parents can attest. Two entries in November’s “Disorder: The Rare Disease Film Festival” will focus on what siblings go through, according to the San Francisco festival’s co-founder,…
A research group at Maine Medical Center (MMC) has received $1.3 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how the activity of a certain gene — called mesoderm specific transcript, or MEST — affects obesity and blood sugar. Researchers hope their studies will shed…
Developing gene therapies for rare diseases is one thing. Creating gene-edited “designer babies” is quite another. German legal expert Timo Minssen outlined the potentially explosive ethical landmines surrounding such issues during a recent talk at the New York Genome Center. Minssen directs the Center for Advanced Studies in…
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