Innovation 5431: Year of birth significantly changes impact of obesity-associated gene variant, 2014 sciencedaily/releases/2014/12/141229164850.htm “Investigators working to unravel the impact of genetics versus environment on traits such as obesity may also need to consider a new factor: when individuals were born. A new study finds that the impact of a variant in the FTO gene that previous research has linked to obesity risk largely depends on birth year, with no correlation between gene variant and obesity in study participants born in earlier years and a far stronger correlation than previously reported for those born in later years.” … “We found that the correlation between the best known obesity-associated gene variant and body mass index increased significantly as the year of birth of participants increased … These results -- to our knowledge the first of their kind -- suggest that this and perhaps other correlations between gene variants and physical traits may vary significantly depending on when individuals were born, even for those born into the same families. … “While there was no correlation between the obesity-risk variant and BMI for those born before 1942, in participants born after 1942 the correlation was twice as strong as reported in previous studies. While this study was not able to identify the environmental differences that combine with FTO variant to increase the risk of obesity, the authors note that post-World War II factors such as increased reliance on technology rather than physical labor and the availability of high-calorie processed foods are likely contributors.”
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 20:07:42 +0000
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