Researchers use worms to tackle obesity in people

Scientists believe they have made a discovery that could help fight obesity and it’s all down to a gene found in worms.

Danish researchers and Monash University say the gene could help break the cycle of overeating followed by lack of physical drive to exercise. A similar gene to the one found in worms has been found in humans according to a report by the website Medicalxpress.com.

The discovery opens up the potential to reduce people’s appetite and increase their desire to exercise, the report adds.

The team’s leader Associate Professor Roger Pocock at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute explained that his team, along with colleagues at the University of Copenhagan, had discovered the gene which controls signals between the brain and intestine that tell us when to sleep and when to roam.

Pocock explained: “When animals are malnourished they seek out food by roaming their environment. When they're well fed they have no need to roam, and when they're fully sated they enter a sleep-like state,”

Now the researchers plan to explore ways to make people feel less inclined to eat, and a greater drive to exercise.