People carrying a rare gene variant have naturally low body fat, healthier livers and better blood sugar levels
There are people around us who can maintain their weight despite what they eat. This has led scientists to believe that a person's metabolism and tendency toward obesity may have genetic factors behind them. A large study sequencing the genomes of more than 1 million people across three continents, found genetic clues that could drive this tendency. The findings are published in Nature.
People with a rare gene variant carry naturally low body fat, healthier livers, and better blood sugar levels. A large study of over 1 million people across three continents identified genetic clues that drive this tendency. Exome sequencing, which looks for rare gene variants and their associations with blood triglycerides to HDL cholesterol ratio, pinpointed 59 genes linked to this marker.
One key gene, FNIP1, acts as a brake on energy expenditure, with about 1 in 7,000 people carrying a mutation that switches off one copy of the gene. This anomaly confers metabolic advantages, including protection against obesity, lower liver fat, and a 60% reduced risk of cardiometabolic disease. The study, published in Nature, found that carriers of the FNIP1 gene variant had significantly healthier metabolic profiles, including lower blood fats, weight, and body fat, as well as lower blood sugar and less fat stored in the liver.
Researchers are hopeful that targeting this gene therapeutically could help combat heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.
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