Maybe it’s Not Our Fault That We’re Fat

By: Ariana Cervantes 

 

We often worry about how our bad diet and lack of exercise is what causes obesity. In Shanghai, researchers found that the bacteria Enterobacter which can be found in a person’s gut can be the cause of our troubles. Scientists gave obesity-resistant mice a high caloric diet, but the mice did not gain weight until they were injected with Enterobacter from an obese human volunteer’s gut. Based on these results scientists were able to create a diet which reduced the Enterobacter population in their gut. This could potentially lead to the development of a diet that can help control obesity.

 

Figure from Fei et al (2013) comparing the effect on the mice’s body once injected with Enterobacter

Original Article: Fei N, and Zhao L. (2013). An opportunistic pathogen isolated from the gut of obese human cause obesity in germfree mice. ISME J 7:880-884.