Mice gene may offer aid in obesity
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A gene that keeps mice and fruit flies lean might offer a way to prevent obesity and diabetes in people, Texas researchers said this week.
The gene, discovered more than 50 years ago in fruit flies, makes mice fat when tweaked one way and thin when manipulated another way, the researchers reported Tuesday in the journal Cell Metabolism.
Finding that the gene works the same way in mice and fruit flies means it has evolved from “lower” to “higher” animals. That suggests it would also work this way in humans, the team reported.
