Gene Helps Turn Carbs Into Fat [podcast]

Today's 60 Second Science Podcast is brought to you by Dr. Robert "Have Another Bunless Bacon Burger" Atkins:

Gene Helps Turn Carbs Into Fat

Full transcript after the jump...

It’s no secret that there’s an obesity epidemic going on. Many researchers blame highly processed carbohydrates, such as high-fructose corn syrup and white flour. Now scientists at the University of Wisconsin in Madison have started to tease out the role of the liver in converting those calorie-rich foods into fat. The researchers isolated a gene in the liver called SCD-1. The gene codes for an enzyme that synthesizes fatty acids. Mice with the normal gene were fed a diet high in processed carbs. The mice converted those carbs into fat and stored that fat in the body. But mice that lacked that SCD-1 gene just burned all those carb calories -- and stayed skinny.

This finding reveals that the liver determines whether or not eating refined carbohydrates will lead to fat gain. The researchers say this system is a good example of a direct diet-gene interaction. But they also say that a drug to turn off that fat-making liver gene wouldn’t be a good idea. Without that gene, the mice could no longer make glucose. They ended up hypoglycemic — suffering from low blood sugar. So the solution is, sadly, what you already knew: eat fewer processed carbohydrates. — Cynthia Graber