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Like many other medical conditions, obesity is the result of an interplay between environmental and genetic factors. [2] [3] Studies have identified variants in several genes that may contribute to weight gain and body fat distribution, although only in a few cases are genes the primary cause of obesity.
This field of research had been almost unapproached until the leptin gene was discovered in 1994 by J. M. Friedman's laboratory. [2] These investigators postulated that leptin was a satiety factor. In the ob/ob mouse, mutations in the leptin gene resulted in the obese phenotype opening the possibility of leptin therapy for human obesity.
16p11.2 deletion syndrome is a rare genetic condition caused by microdeletion on the short arm of chromosome 16. Most affected individuals experience global developmental delay and intellectual disability, as well as childhood-onset obesity. [1] 16p11.2 deletion is estimated to account for approximately 1% of autism spectrum disorder cases. [3] [4]
Chromosomes display a banded pattern when treated with some stains. Bands are alternating light and dark stripes that appear along the lengths of chromosomes. Unique banding patterns are used to identify chromosomes and to diagnose chromosomal aberrations, including chromosome breakage, loss, duplication, translocation or inverted segments.
Obesity is a major cause of disability and is correlated with various diseases and conditions, particularly cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. [2] [12] [13] Obesity has individual, socioeconomic, and environmental causes.
A karyotype of an individual with trisomy 21, showing three copies of chromosome 21. An abnormal number of chromosomes is known as aneuploidy, and occurs when an individual is either missing a chromosome from a pair (resulting in monosomy) or has more than two chromosomes of a pair (trisomy, tetrasomy, etc.).
The United States spends $1.5 billion on nutrition research every year compared to around $60 billion on drug research. Just 4 percent of agricultural subsidies go to fruits and vegetables. No wonder that the healthiest foods can cost up to eight times more, calorie for calorie, than the unhealthiest—or that the gap gets wider every year.
Obesity has been observed throughout human history. Many early depictions of the human form in art and sculpture appear obese. [2] However, it was not until the 20th century that obesity became common — so much so that, in 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally recognized obesity as a global epidemic [3] and estimated that the worldwide prevalence of obesity has nearly tripled ...