Scientists from Southwestern Medical Center, University of Texas (UT Southwestern Medical Center) found a gene that controls the accumulation of fat in the body. Reduced activity of this gene have been inclined to corpulence, magazine reports Cell Metabolism. So-called "fat gene" has both animals and humans. It was opened about 50 years ago in fruit flies, but its function had not been sufficiently studied. Researchers led by Jonathan Graff (Jonathan Graff) conducted their experiments on fruit flies, worms and mice. Using various methods, scientists turned off and "fat gene", or modify its activity in different parts of the body of animals and at different stages of their development. As a result of experiments they concluded that the analyzed gene acts as a "cutout" high-level, which determines whether to accumulate or burn fat. Mice with increased activity of "fat gene" ate as much or even more food than normal mice, while being more lean and less prone to diabetes. In contrast, animals with reduced activity of the gene were thicker and had diabetes, the researchers noted. Scientists have shown that you can not just turn on and off the gene, but also influence the level of its activity. This increases the possibility of controlling the effects of a gene that potentially could lead to new methods to combat an "epidemic" of obesity and diabetes, said Graff.