Eating anything and not getting fat is possible. Scientists have found a gene for thinness

Eating anything and not getting fat is possible. Scientists have found a gene for thinness

Now it’s clear how they do it.

There are happy people in the world who can not deny themselves anything in terms of food. They are few – only 1% of the population. These people have certain mutations of the “thinness gene”. This conclusion was reached by an international team of scientists from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the University of British Columbia.

What is the thinness gene?

Research that can help people in the fight against excess weight, scientists have been doing for a long time. One of the most recent was published in the journal Cell.

An international team of luminaries of science studied the genetic database of the Estonian biobank of more than 47 thousand samples. All of these samples were taken from metabolically healthy thin people between the ages of 20 and 44. These samples were compared with clinical examination data from healthy people of normal weight.
As a result, the scientists identified a variant of the ALK gene, which was also called the “thinness gene”. Its mutation in the body of thin people and allows them to eat whatever they want, and do not care about their own weight. They definitely can not get fat, and they do not need to sit on diets, go to the gym and count calories.

There are only 1% of such people in the world.

In fact, the ALK gene has been known for quite a long time, but one of its mutations is found only in thin people and is not detected in normal weight.

Skinny mice: how was the research conducted?

To confirm their theory, scientists conducted studies on laboratory mice. Rodents with a deficiency of the ALK gene broke down fat faster and burned more calories.

The mice were fed abundant fatty food, as well as their relatives, on which gene experiments were not put. “Normal” mice quickly became overweight, while the “gene” rodents remained at the same weight as before the experiment.

According to the researchers, the gene is expressed in the brain, it regulates the amount of fat in the body. But experiments on humans have not been conducted. That is why it is impossible to unequivocally state that it is the ALK gene that is the cause of thinness, but its variants are definitely associated with low weight.

The miracle cure is HEA

Is it possible to “turn off” or partially block the gene in people to regulate obesity? In theory, yes. In practice, as already mentioned, such experiments have not been conducted.
Perhaps this particular study will be a real breakthrough in the field of gene control of overweight. But is it worth waiting for scientists to invent a miracle cure?

It’s better to just look after yourself and exercise. Miracles don’t happen.