Where the fat is
An international consortium led by Harvard Medical School (HMS) researcher Joel Hirschhorn has made significant inroads into uncovering the genetic basis of obesity by identifying 18 new gene sites associated with overall obesity and 13 that affect fat distribution. The studies include data from nearly a quarter of a million participants, the largest genetic investigation of human traits to date. The papers, both from the GIANT (Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits) consortium — which consists of more than 400 scientists from 280 research institutions worldwide — will appear in Nature Genetics. “Different people have different susceptibilities to obesity,” says Hirschhorn, an associate professor of genetics at HMS, an assistant in medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston, and senior associate member and coordinator of the Metabolism Initiative at the Broad Institute. “Some don’t rigorously watch what they eat or how much they exercise and still resist gaining weight, while others constantly struggle to keep...