In this webinar, we heard from Nik Morton and Katherine Kentistou from the University of Edinburgh who explored the research around the genetic extremes of body weight, and covered discovery approaches to obesity genes and their biochemistry.

By 2017, more than 1.9bn people were overweight or obese in the world, resulting in more than 4m excess deaths. Since then, obesity has also been identified as an added risk factor for severe outcomes of Covid-19. The limited success of lifestyle intervention for obesity leaves only invasive surgery for severe obesity or medications with adverse side–effects as therapeutic options.

Invited speakers:

• Nik Morton, Chair of Molecular Metabolism at the Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, and Chair of the Biochemical Society’s Research Area III: Energy and Metabolism.
• Katherine Kentistou, MRC-funded Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh.

This webinar was chaired by Professor Roger D. Cox, who leads the genetics of type 2 diabetes group in the Mammalian Genetics Unit at the MRC Harwell Institute, Oxfordshire.