Single gene may be key to obesity

A SINGLE gene may hold the key to controlling human obesity with drugs, new research suggests.

Experiments with mice suggest that the gene does more than influence appetite. It also seems to affect energy expenditure at a cellular level.

Understanding FTO mechanisms could pave the way to developing therapeutic targets for obesity. Previous research had suggested that FTO variants altered the amount people ate but made no difference to the rate at which they burned up energy.