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A New Understanding of an Old "Obesity Gene"
As you know if you've been following this blog for a while, obesity risk has a strong genetic component. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) attempt to identify the specific locations of genetic differences (single-nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs) that are associated with a particular trait. In the case of obesity, GWAS studies have had limited success in identifying obesity-associated genes. However, one cluster of SNPs consistently show up at the top of the list in these studies: those that are near the gene FTO. As with many of ...