“Thin” Gene: Discovered by a woman 50 years ago

Today’s headlines include: “Scientists discover ‘skinny’ gene” with the story of a study that finds a gene which, depending on how good of a copy you have in your DNA, controls whether you are one of those “skinny” no matter what they eat people. If you feel like you have been battling your biology, you probably have. Of course there are other factors too, so this doesn’t mean forget about diet and exercise. It just means that some people have to work much harder than others and may never get as good results. I’m wary of the idea of creating a pill to treat it (except for those whose biological tendency toward obesity leads to serious health problems). However, I could see it being helpful for someone to know from childhood so they can make sure to focus on a good diet and lots of exercise from the start. Something we should all be doing, of course, but all the more important if the odds are going to be against you.

Now, if you read more than the first few paragraphs you learn that this is not such a recent discovery. A woman published her discovery 50 years ago! Her findings were ignored, but luckily a man took interest so we are now reading it in the headlines.