Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have discovered big differences in the variability of eating habits amongst pigs. The study looked at pigs with comparison to humans genetic mapping to reveal specific genes on the human genome known to be involved with obesity. The researchers monitored the eating habits of pigs rather than humans because it would be nearly impossible to monitor that many humans hourly for that extent of time. Basically, the research team wanted to figure out and understand why when some people get hungry they over eat, while others have control over how much they eat. Pigs are a popular study model for researchers studying human obesity because they have similar genomes and digestive systems with humans. Over a thousand pigs were given an abundance of food supply during a time span of four years, and each of the pigs were monitored daily. The results were very interesting, there were big differences in the variability of the pigs eating habits. Some pigs with certain genetic variants were overeating as a normal behavior, proving they were genetically programmed to eat more food than other pigs. Kadarmideen states, "This is the first study in the world looking at pig to human comparative genetic mapping to reveal key genes on the human genome (e.g. on chromosomes 6 and 17) that are known to be involved in human obesity and some new genes; together they may explain why we crave for (more and sometimes unhealthy) food and why some of us overeat, so consequently developing obesity and diabetes, both of which are key societal and public health problems". In the future it is possible that a simple blood test could determine if that person is more likely to have unhealthy eating habits, which could lead to diseases such as diabetes or obesity. I believe this would be quite remarkable if people were able to take a simple blood test to figure out what kind of eating behaviors they geneticaly have. It would allow for better understanding of the obseity genes and why some individuals eat like they do. Although, I firmly believe that even if people know they might have genetically unhealthy eating habits, it all comes down to the individual person on changing these bad habits.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/267024.php
http://obesityinamerica.org/
This is very interesting research. By now everyone knows that obesity is related to both genes and behavior/environments. Even if a person is genetically prone to eat more, that person can still make good decisions on what foods they are eating. A person with these genes may never be able to look a certain way but hopefully having these genes does not mean they have to have illnesses related to obesity (diabetes, heart disease etc..) if they choose to eat healthy foods. Also, I wonder if the blood testing would give people an excuse to give up on trying to control their eating since they can easily find out if they are predisposed to overeat. It may be hard to imagine fighting against your genes to stay healthy when many people already find it hard to be healthy.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I love food, but I highly doubt a blood test telling whether a person has the obesity genes or not is going to stop majority of people from food. Personally, I would be interested in taking the blood test just out of curiosity only because I already try to eat pretty healthy anyway. I feel that people who are older, such as a 40 or 50 year old isn't going to change his/her habits from a test though, considering they have been eating the way they have for so many years already.
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