Last year, researchers reported that mice with a form of diabetes recovered after receiving leptin gene therapy directly into the brain. (sciencemag.org)
But when Rajan inserted the human leptin gene into her flies, they didn't have this problem. (sciencemag.org)
Of those people who are morbidly obese, less than 1 percent harbor DNA mutations that disrupt the function of the leptin gene — a low rate of incidence that is not surprising, as leptin - deficient humans and mice are both in fertile, so these mutations do not pass readily to subsequent generations. (scientificamerican.com)