It’s no secret that obesity rates are rising — quickly.  Between 2000 and 2005 the prevalence of obesity rose by 24%.  Extreme obesity increased by more than 50%.  If current trends continue, more than half of all Americans will be clinically obese by the year 2030.
Rapid changes in the prevalence of a disorder suggest that [...]

Tags: copy number variant, environment, epigenetics, Nature, Nature Genetics, nurture, obesity, sequencing, SNP

SNPwatch gives you the latest news about research linking various traits and conditions to individual genetic variations. These studies are exciting because they offer a glimpse into how genetics may affect our bodies and health; but in most cases, more work is needed before this research can provide information of value to individuals. For that [...]

Tags: environment, KITLG, pigmentation, testicular cancer

Type 1 diabetes is on the rise in European children, says a new report.
Researchers studied type 1 diabetes data collected between 1989 and 2003 at 20 centers in 17 European countries. Their results, published online yesterday in the Lancet, show that more children, especially younger children, are being diagnosed with the disease each year.  Based [...]

Tags: culture, diabetes, environment, evolution, Genes