Friday, December 25, 2009

New gene discovery regulates obesity and diabetes

"Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine, US have chanced upon the discovery of a new gene called Brd 2 that makes mice enormously fat but protects them from Type 2 diabetes.

Research showed that while complete absence of the gene was fatal, in case of a single, genetic change in the Brd2 gene of mice, thereby reducing its expression, they became severely obese but did not go on to develop Type 2 diabetes. Usually in both mice and men, chronic obesity commonly leads to Type 2 diabetes, followed by other serious conditions such as heart disease, kidney and nerve damage, osteoporosis, blindness and circulation problems in the feet that may require amputation. This result therefore came as a surprise to doctors, part of this research.

It is being predicted that with rising obesity cases, there will be around 366 million diabetic individuals worldwide by 2030. The research has been undertaken is because of the urgent need to arrive at an understanding of the linkage between obesity and diabetes, so that new drugs and therapies can be developed for treatment."

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