Lean gene and the clock machine

摘要

Signs of an increased girth are everywhere across the "fattening" world. Attempts to countermand this epidemic can be gauged by the rise in bariatric surgery in both the United States and Europe and the continued search for as-yet-elusive anti-obesity therapies. Against this backdrop, an intensive effort to unravel the molecular underpinnings of feeding and weight regulation has been underway since the discovery in 1994 of the adiposity hormone leptin (from the Greek leptos, for thin).