Deciphering Obesity's Genetic Component with Data
A group of geneticists at the University of Tokyo developed a data-driven way to decipher obesity genetics using obesity related SNPs from publicly available data. Using the data, they selected key genes and found 74 key genes related to obesity. Of the 74 genes selected, 37 of them had not been reported for the physiopathology of obesity. Finally, the group detected that 23 of the 74 genes are potential targets for 78 drugs that are already available and marketed.
Understanding the biological processes that lead to obesity is the most important step in stopping it. With an understanding of the genes that cause obesity via an in silico investigation, researchers can narrow the scope of what to work on when it comes to therapeutic targets. This kind of research is important as it informs what treatments are possible without having to rely on mass amounts of testing. Currently, Ozempic, a drug used for type 2 diabetes treatment, has seen use as a weight loss drug. The problem with this usage is that Ozempic is not approved as a weight loss treatment. With research like this group has done, further investigations into trends like the usage of Ozempic can be investigated further to find out if it can be used safely as a weight loss medication.
https://www.ozempic.com/why-ozempic/what-is-ozempic.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/s10038-023-01189-3
This is an informative article. It is interesting that the geneticists could select key genes and find 74 key genes related to obesity. The twist here now is how of the 74 genes selected, 37 of them had not been reported for the physio pathology of obesity. That's intriguing.
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