KUALA LUMPUR: The rise of obesity across the world has captivate doctors and scientists, but in what is a groundbreaking discovery, scientists in Singapore have discovered a gene deficiency that could battle obesity and atherosclerosis. The scientists, from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and the Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC), discovered that mice deficient in a certain gene are resistant to weight gain and atherosclerosis. Without the gene, and through therapy, the scientists believe that humans can battle weight gain on a genetic level which could reduce global obesity and the clogging of arteries that leads to heart attack. The scientists discovered that mice deficient in the gene Wip1, even when fed a high-fat diet, were resistant to obesity and atherosclerosis by preventing the accumulation of lipid droplets. Obesity and atherosclerosis-related diseases account for over one-third of deaths in the Western world. Atherosclerosis is an underlying cause of many cardiovascular diseases. In Singapore, 10.8 percent of the population is obese and cardiovascular disease accounted for 31.9 percent of all deaths in 2010. The new findings, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, pave the way for the possible development of new therapeutic treatments to combat obesity and atherosclerosis. Scientists also said they are hopeful that the discovery can be mapped onto cancer for the suppression of tumor progression.
