The Genetic Basis of Obesity

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity has been mainly be attributed to the rise in an obesogenic environment, in which individuals are more prone to high-dense energy foods and live a sedimentary lifestyle. Familial aggregation of obesity however, has led to numerous studies focused on understanding the genetic basis of this complex disorder. To this effect, this thesis summarizes the current knowledge of obesity genetics, including the monogenic, polygenic and epigenetics field. Given the tremendous contribution of animal models, especially mouse models, to our current knowledge of obesity genetics, this thesis summarizes the methodology of genetic studies in mice, and focuses on how the synergy between human and mouse studies has led to not only the discovery of obesity causal genes, but also their biological contribution to obesity. Lastly, this thesis summarizes a candidate gene approach based on the information from mouse models that have led to identification of a novel variant associated with body mass index (BMI), hip circumference and body adiposity index (BAI) in a multi-ethnic cohort.