Personal Genomics

Two obese people follow the same low-calorie diet and do not exercise, but one loses much more weight than the other. Genetic factors may explain this phenomenon, according to Jose Ordovas, PhD, director of the Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Ordovas and colleagues identified a variation in the perilipin gene that appears to render some people resistant to weight loss from calorie restriction. This research builds on their earlier work on perilipin and obesity.

Friedman Nutrition Notes: November / December 2005