BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"\;Are my genes to blame when my jeans don’t fit?"\; - D r Giles Yeo\, University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories\, In stitute of Metabolic Science DTSTART:20101126T180000Z DTEND:20101126T191500Z UID:TALK26472@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:Dr Xavier Moya DESCRIPTION:The recent rapid increase in obesity is undoubtedly due to cha nges in our lifestyle and in the types of food we eat. Our environment has changed dramatically over the past 50 years\, with people taking much les s exercise and consuming far more calories than ever before. However\, alt hough we are all exposed to these changes\, not all of us are obese. Diffe rences in our genetic make-up mean we all respond differently to the same environment. In fact\, studies on twins have estimated the ‘heritability ’ of body-weight to be anywhere between 40% – 70%. The fact that body weight is a highly heritable trait provides us the opportunity to use gene tics as a tool to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying human obe sity\, thus teaching us about the biology of appetite control. LOCATION:Old Combination Room (OCR)\, Wolfson College END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR