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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Our genes influence whether we are fat or thin by shaping which types of microbes thrive in our gut, scientists say.
The discovery suggested healthy bacteria might one day be used to treat obesity, they told the journal Cell.
By studying human twins, they found a type of bacteria that was not only associated with being thin but also seemed to run in families.
Transplanting some of these microbes into mice slowed down weight gain.
The study is the first to suggest certain types of naturally occurring gut bacteria are inherited.
Analysing faecal samples from 416 UK twin pairs, the researchers found the abundance of Christensenellaceae bacteria was more similar in identical twins, who share exact DNA, than in fraternal twins, who are genetically just like ordinary siblings.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29904132
The discovery suggested healthy bacteria might one day be used to treat obesity, they told the journal Cell.
By studying human twins, they found a type of bacteria that was not only associated with being thin but also seemed to run in families.
Transplanting some of these microbes into mice slowed down weight gain.
The study is the first to suggest certain types of naturally occurring gut bacteria are inherited.
Analysing faecal samples from 416 UK twin pairs, the researchers found the abundance of Christensenellaceae bacteria was more similar in identical twins, who share exact DNA, than in fraternal twins, who are genetically just like ordinary siblings.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29904132