Obesity not only influences diet
2005/07/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
The inner clock of living beings is controlled by different genes. One of them, Clock, participates in circadian activity, that is, in a biological clock linked to the day-night cycle. After the discovery of the gene in 1997, the same team of researchers found a new feature related to the Clock gene: that in case of error causes obesity in the mouse.
Obesity is related to diet, but according to these researchers not only with it. Mice with defects in the Clock gene develop obesity in all cases, regardless of diet. The research was conducted with two diets, one rich in fats and one normal. Mice with mutations in the Clock gene developed obesity in both cases. Mutated mice also slept less than the others.
As mice and humans have similar circadian clocks, in the case of humans researchers begin to investigate the relationship between the Clock gene and obesity. In addition, they will have to investigate many other diseases, as the internal clock influences many areas.
