In a large group of participants followed for decades, baseline body mass index outperformed a SNP-based obesity risk score for predicting midlife weight.
Different biological processes appear to drive body mass index during infancy and later in childhood and adulthood, which could inform obesity prevention strategies.
Rhythm has a drug called setmelanotide in Phase III development for genetic obesity disorders associated with variants within the melanocortin-4 pathway.
The researchers found that while BMI broadly increased over time in their Norwegian cohort, genetically predisposed individuals were more highly affected.
The firm, Phenomix Sciences, anticipates that its test will help drive adoption of medications for obesity at a time when patients are reluctant to take them.
A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill seeking increased funding for certain fields, including synthetic biology, ScienceInsider reports.
Discover magazine writes that paleoproteomics is increasing being used in archaeology, paleoanthropology, and paleontology, including a recent study of a 6,000-year-old ring.
