POSITIONAL CLONING OF THE MOUSE OBESE GENE AND ITS HUMAN HOMOLOG

The mechanisms that balance food intake and energy expenditure determi ne who will be obese and who will be lean. One of the molecules that r egulates energy balance in the mouse is the obese (ob) gene. Mutation of ob results in profound obesity and type II diabetes as part of a sy ndrome that resembles morbid obesity in humans. The ob gene product ma y function as part of a signalling pathway from adipose tissue that ac ts to regulate the size of the body fat depot.