Appetite regulation: Shedding new light on obesity

New information illuminating the potential causes of obesity has been appearing rapidly, beginning with the cloning, by Friedman’s group, of the mouse obese (ob) gene, as reported in December 1994 [1]. Many reports on related topics and other molecular biological approaches to obesity have followed, particularly in the last several months. These reports help to form a picture that places regulatory elements in the brain — and particularly in the hypothalamus — at the heart of the pathogenesis of obesity. In this report we review these developments and try to show the context in which they are informative.