Conflict Brews In Obesity Gene Research

The groups working on the two much-publicized "obesity" genes, ob and tub (tubby), look set to get embroiled in dispute over the rights to the work.

The latest twist came with the publication, in the journals Cell and Nature, of the discovery of the tub gene in mice. Sequana Therapeutics, in collaboration with researchers at the Jackson Laboratory in Maine, USA, published "a candidate gene for the mouse mutation, tubby," in the April 11 issue of Nature. Meantime, the April 19 issue of Cell carries an article by researchers at Millenium Pharmaceuticals entitled "identification and characterization of the mouse obesity gene, tubby: a member of a novel gene family."

The Nature article notes that in contrast to the rapid juvenile-onset weight gain seen in diabetic (db) and obese (ob) mice, obesity in tubby mice develops gradually, and "strongly resembles the late-onset obesity seen in the human population." This weight gain is out of proportion to their food intake (which remains normal) throughout their lives, and results in a twofold increase in body mass.