Through joint research with the Rural Development Administration (RDA), Professor KIM Heebal (SNU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences) has discovered that particular genes of swine are related to human abdominal obesity.

The team compared chromosome 6 of swine with chromosome 1 of humans and found that eight out of thirteen genes on the swine’s chromosome which controlled the thickness of fat actually matched with the human genes that triggered obesity. Also, three out of the eight corresponding genes -- FAM73A, NEGR1, and TTLL7 -- were revealed to function as controllers of obesity in the abdomen and the scapula (shoulder bone) area. Another six genes were verified as relating to the nervous system of humans, indicating that stress may have some effect on causing obesity.

This study was published in the February 2011 issue of PLos ONE, a renowned academic journal in the field of biotechnology, and is scheduled to be presented at the Swine in Biomedical Research Conference in Chicago in July. Many people expect this discovery will provide useful information for developing obesity-related treatments. As the team is expanding the scope of their research to include comparison of all of the chromosomes of swine with those of humans, there are likely more significant discoveries to come.

Written by LEE Ye Ha, SNU English Editor
Proofread by Brett Johnson