Dr. Ute Hochgeswender at the OMRF and Dr. Miles Brennan from the Eleanor Roosevelt institute designed genetically engineered mice

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On Aug. 30, 1999, Dr. Ute Hochgeswender, Development Biology Research Program from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) and Dr. Miles Brennan from the Eleanor Roosevelt institute in announced they had designed genetically engineered mice to fight obesity.

These genetically engineered mice are lacking the POMC gene and all the peptides processed from this gene. POMC deficiency was discovered in 1998 in patients as a cause of severe obesity. The mutant strain of mice model human patients with the POMC deficiency, which causes severe obesity, glucocorticoid deficiency and red hair.

The development of an animal model for this inherited type of obesity offersed two major benefits.  Extensive research can now be done into the physiology and mechanisms of the condition as well as testing for future treatment regimens.

The researchers’ findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine.

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Source: Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
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