The gene that determines where your body fat ends up

[eridani]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-gene-that-determines-where-your-body-fat-ends-up-a6690506.html

Where women’s bodies store fat is governed by a genetic variant that also influences the risk of developing type-2 diabetes, new research has found.

The research, presented at the American Society of Human Genetics, in Baltimore, discovered a gene called KLF14 appears to be a master regulator of how and where fat ends up.

Women with one particular “allele”, or version, of the gene tend to have slimmer hips, while women with another are more “pear-shaped”, the study claimed.

The gene variant appeared to regulate hundreds of other genes active in fat cells, changing the structure and function of those cells.

"At the whole-body level, these differences between alleles are not associated with changes to overall weight or body mass index, but they do affect women's hip circumference," said Kerrin Small, PhD, Head of the Genomics of Regulatory Variation Research Group at King's College London and lead author on the study.

The research also found women who have a “pear-shaped” body type, carrying more fat on their hips, are significantly less likely to develop type-2 diabetes than those with smaller hips.