Gene therapy may treat obesity
By Times of India,
Times of India
| 03. 10. 2009
Alarmed by the rise in obesity, researchers are examining the possibility of injecting a gene directly into one of the critical feeding and weight control centres of the brain.
"Obesity significantly increases the risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and some cancers," said Matthew During, the study's co-author and professor at Ohio State University Medical Centre.
"Our findings represent a promising new treatment for obesity that could ultimately provide a much safer and more effective approach than some conventional therapies," he said.
Scientists have discovered that a particular gene, BDNF, when active in the hypothalamus, can result in improved insulin sensitivity, reduced fat mass and weight loss.
Lei Cao, a co-author and assistant professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics, said the study involved injecting the BDNF gene in normal mice, diabetic mice and mice fed with a high fat diet, to determine how the gene transfer would affect their weight.
"The gene was active in the overweight mice but as they lost weight, the gene expression was essentially 'dialed down,' using a novel RNA interference approach, thus stopping...
Related Articles
Not the species, certainly, but the Institute of that name, which was founded by transhumanist philosopher Nick Bostrom in 2005 as a research group at Oxford University. According to a recently posted Final Report, its goal was “to pursue the big questions in a transdisciplinary way” by pulling together “researchers from disciplines such as philosophy, computer science, mathematics, and economics.” This evolved before long into the study and promotion of “effective altruism” and “longtermism” as...
By Yelena Biberman and Jonathan D. Moreno, Bioethics Forum | 04.16.2024
A quiet biological revolution in warfare is underway. The genome is emerging as a new domain of conflict. The level of destruction that only nuclear weapons could previously achieve is fast becoming as accessible as a cyberattack.
Now for the...
By Tristan Manalac, BioSpace | 04.02.2024
Verve Therapeutics has suspended enrollment in the Phase Ib Heart-1 study evaluating its lead gene editing program VERVE-101 following a serious adverse event, the company announced Tuesday.
A patient, who received a 0.45-mg/kg dose of VERVE-101, developed a grade 3...
By Timnit Gebru and Émile P. Torres, First Monday | 04.14.2024
The stated goal of many organizations in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), an imagined system with more intelligence than anything we have ever seen. Without seriously questioning whether such a system can...