Researchers discover three genes that increase risk of severe obesity in kids and adults
平特五不中 scientists play key role in international genome-wide association study
European and Canadian researchers have, for the first time, drawn a map of genetic risk factors that can lead to two forms of severe obesity: early-onset obesity in children, and morbid obesity in adults.
A genetic study of 1,380 Europeans with early-onset and morbid adult obesity was led by French researchers Dr. David Meyre, of the Institut national de la sant茅 et de la recherche m茅dicale (Inserm), and Dr. Philippe Froguel, director of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Dr. Rob Sladek , Dr. Constantin Polychronakos and Dr. Alexandre Montpetit, of 平特五不中 and the 平特五不中 and G茅nome Qu茅bec Innovation Centre, made key contributions to the discovery, along with researchers from France, Britain, Finland, Switzerland and Germany.
The results were published Jan. 19 in the journal Nature Genetics. Finding the genetic cause of a medical problem can often lead researchers along the right path toward an eventual treatment or cure or to help identify people who might be at risk.
鈥淭he idea was not just to look at run-of-the-mill obesity, but look for genetic factors that may affect people who have more severe problems with their weight,鈥� said Dr. Sladek, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Genetics and Endocrinology. 鈥淭his includes children who become obese at a young age, before the age of six. We also studied the genomes of adults who had a familial history of severe obesity, with a body-mass index greater than 40.鈥� People are generally defined as 鈥渙verweight鈥� if they have a body-mass index greater than 25.
鈥淭he family approach being undertaken by our collaboration with our colleagues in France is going to become important for future large-scale genetic studies,鈥� Sladek continued. 鈥淥ur suspicion is that a lot of the genetic changes that make people obese will turn out to be variants that run in families or in segments of the population, rather than things that are very common across the population. In terms of diabetes, we think that perhaps 90 per cent of the genetic risk could come from these familial or even personal genetic variants.鈥�
鈥淲e are proud of this announcement, which once again confirms the scientific excellence and talent of Qu茅bec鈥檚 scientists,鈥� said Paul L鈥橝rchev锚que, President and CEO of G茅nome Qu茅bec. 鈥淭hese findings, which are the direct result of studies co-financed by G茅nome Qu茅bec, clearly show the strategic role of genomics in the search for solutions to improve human health. We would also like to underline the cooperation among the institutes, an initiative that made this major advance possible. Congratulations to the 平特五不中 University and G茅nome Qu茅bec Innovation Centre team, and especially to Alexandre Montpetit who trained a group from CNRS on genotyping data analysis on the Illumina platform.鈥�
ABOUT McGILL UNIVERSITY
平特五不中, founded in Montreal , Que., in 1821, is Canada 鈥檚 leading post-secondary institution. It has two campuses, 11 faculties, 10 professional schools, 300 programs of study and more than 34,000 students. 平特五不中 attracts students from more than 160 countries around the world. Almost half of 平特五不中 students claim a first language other than English 鈥� including 6,000 francophones 鈥� with more than 6,400 international students making up almost 20 per cent of the student body .
ABOUT G脡NOME QU脡BEC
G茅nome Qu茅bec is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to reinforce Qu茅bec鈥檚 innovation system in genomics by financing major genomics research initiatives. The investments of more than 400 million dollars since 2001 have contributed to accelerate the discovery of new applications, such as screening tests, therapeutic tools in human health or new environmental procedures in agriculture and forestry. The funds invested by G茅nome Qu茅bec come from the minist猫re du D茅veloppement 茅conomique, de l鈥橧nnovation et de l鈥橢xportation of Qu茅bec, the Government of Canada through G茅nome Canada and from private partners. To find out more about G茅nome Qu茅bec and genomics, visit its Web site at .