A recent study shows that genetic composition of a person determines whether he/she will be fat or thin. Researchers can find this by determining specific types of microbes thriving in our body.
A team of researchers at King's College London and Cornell University have identified a specific, small bacterial family, called Christensenellaceae. It is heritable and is more often found in individuals that have a low body weight.
Tim Spector, professor at King's College London, said, 'Our findings show that specific groups of microbes living in our gut could be protective against obesity - and that their abundance is influenced by our genes'.
Researchers believe that findings of the study can help for personalized probiotic therapies that can reduce the risk of obesity-related diseases, based on an individual's genetic make-up.
For the study, researchers sequenced the genes of microbes found in over 1,000 fecal samples from 416 pairs of twins.
According to the study, Christensenellaceae minuta, the members of this health-promoting bacterial family were found mostly in individuals who had a low body weight than in obese individuals.
When transplanted into mice this microbe also protected weight gain in them. Mice that were treated with this microbe gained less weight as compared to mice in which microbe transplantation was not done. This showed that increase in amount of these microbes can help to prevent or reduce obesity.
Researchers affirmed that the study was just a beginning of a lengthy effort that may help to identify new ways to fight obesity.
Ruth Ley, associate professor at Cornell University, US, said that findings of the study will also help to find some new predictors of disease and aid prevention.
