Many people have skinny friends who claim not to gain weight even if they eat unhealthily. They may not be lying. Several pieces of DNA turn out to be associated with lower body weight, suggesting a genetic basis for slimness. The findings also suggests thinness may be heritable.
Previous research has suggested that about . 快猫短视频s have discovered a link between genes and obesity, so Sadaf Farooqi at the University of Cambridge and her colleagues wanted to know if slimness is also encoded in our DNA.
The team collected genomic information from over 1400 individuals who have always been lean. Although their BMIs are below the normal cutoff, all of the individuals are in good health. Farooqi compared their DNA with that of 1400 individuals who became obese before the age of 10, and 6400 individuals with normal body weight.
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The team found some genetic markers are significantly more common in thin people. In total, genetics accounted for about 28 per cent of someone鈥檚 likelihood of being thin 鈥� which is comparable to the strength of the genetic link to obesity.
鈥淲e show for the first time that genes can also be linked to thinness,鈥� Farooqi says.
Moreover, the team found those who have been obese since childhood carry more genes that increase their risk of being obese. In contrast, thin individuals have fewer obesity-related genes.
鈥淭his work is the first step in finding the pathways that we can target to develop new weight loss treatments,鈥� Farooqi says. 鈥淲e hope this will reduce the stigma and prejudice towards obesity by recognising that thin people are just lucky 鈥� they have inherited genes that allow them to stay thin.鈥�
PLoS Genetics
