The Obesity Issue

Meet some of the people featured in the November 2015 issue of The Scientist.

The causes and consequences of obesity are more complicated than we thought.
 

November 2015's selection of notable quotes

New research on how fat influences brain neuronal activity

Obesity appears linked to the gut microbiome. How and why is still a mystery—but scientists have plenty of ideas.

Overeating and inactivity lead to insulin resistance in just days—and oxidative stress is to blame.

Why do some obese people actually experience health benefits?

Science tells us obesity is a chronic disease. Why does the outmoded and injurious notion that it is a problem of willpower persist?

Science is approaching a better understanding of the increasingly prevalent disease; the consequences of succeeding in this quest are great.

Diverting the bile duct around a long stretch of the small intestine could treat obesity without cutting out chunks of the digestive tract.

Obesity triggers a fatty acid synthesis pathway, which in turn helps drive T cell differentiation and inflammation.

Adipogenesis in mice has alternating genetic requirements throughout the animals’ lives.

The accumulation of fat within skeletal muscle, as happens with obesity, diminishes muscle performance.

Bruce Spiegelman has spent his career at the forefront of adipocyte differentiation and metabolism.

Assistant Professor, Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California, San Francisco. Age: 39

Using mass spec to study protein-protein interactions

Using chemogenetic tools to spur the brain into action

Weight-loss drugs that target newly characterized obesity-related receptors and pathways could finally offer truly effective fat control.

Researchers are showing that ambiguity can be essential to brain development.

The Psychology of Overeating, The Hidden Half of Nature, The Death of Cancer, and The Secret of Our Success

Resecting a majority of the small intestine—a popular weight-loss surgery half a century ago—led to severe malnutrition and eventual death.