Genetic variants have been discovered that can raise the risk of obesity by as much as six times. The rare variants are among the first for which the increased risk of obesity is not seen until adulthood. They were found in the genes BSN and APBA1 and their impact is among the biggest on obesity risk identified so far. The study, published in Nature Genetics, led by the MRC Epidemiology Unit and the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit at the Institute of Metabolic Science, both based at the University of Cambridge. They used UK Biobank and other data to perform whole exome sequencing of body mass inde…
