Gene Linked to Obesity and Diabetes Found

Gene Linked to Obesity and Diabetes FoundLondon, May 18. -A regulatory gene may play a key role in the development of obesity and diabetes, reported the journal Nature Genetics in its latest issue.

Researchers at Kingâ�Ös College London said that the gene called KLF14 is like "a master key" that controls other genes found in fatty tissue and that are related to a number of metabolic characteristics such as body mass index, insulin, obesity, cholesterol and glucose levels.

Treatments to combat excess weight and diabetes could focus on this gene, the researchers wrote.

This study shows how small changes in a master gene cause metabolic changes, they said.

KLF14 appears to act as a control process type master key, which connects the changes in the behavior of subcutaneous fat with muscle problems and liver that contribute to diabetes and other conditions, said Mark McCarthy of Oxford University in Britain, who participated in the study. (Prensa Latina)