US Scientists claim to have located gene that converts carbs to fat
Reported in the medical/genetics journal Cell, researchers from Berkeley University in California claim to have located the gene in the human body that turns carbs into fat. The gene, which they have named DNA-PK, regulates the liver functions that turn carbohydrates in the human body to fat.
Tests have been conducted with laboratory mice that have got a disabled version of the gene, alongside a control group that was subjected to the same carbohydrate intensive diet. Of the two groups, the disabled-gene mice were found to not gain fat as a result of their diet.
The researchers have established that the disabled-gene mice had 40 percent less body fat that their unaltered counterparts, as well as having significantly lower amounts of blood cholesterol.
They believe that the discovery of the gene may have applications in the drug industry for controlling obesity.
Brett Venter
