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Obesity: The Plague of the 21st Century Video
In this video talk from the University of Washington’s Molecular Medicine Training Program, Professor D. Scott Weigle of the UW School of Medicine explains how and why obesity has become the plague of the 21st Century. After discussing the “explosive growth” of obesity in America and its harmful effects on human health, Dr. Weigle describes several seminal studies that demonstrate how body weight is regulated against excessive weight gain or loss. Scientists have learned that body fat mass is regulated in part by leptin, a hormonal satiety signal sent from fat cells to the brain. Although leptin deficiency causes only a tiny fraction of human obesity and does not explain the epidemic, genetic variation in the action of leptin can predispose an individual to obesity. Dr. Weigle notes that environmental factors, such as poor food choices, large portion sizes, and inactivity, can promote obesity by interacting with leptin in sensitive circuits in the adult and fetus. Because obesity is complex, it is unlikely, he says, that one drug can be developed to control it. Rather, the control of obesity will require both individual and societal efforts to reduce risk factors, he concludes. The talk was originally presented as a public lecture for a local audience, including high school students. Videos of other public science lectures are also available on the UW Molecular Medicine Training Program’s website, with new videos added as lectures take place.
Obesity, Plague of 21st Century Video
This video lecture, with slides, discusses the science of obesity and describes the harmful effects of obesity on human health.
Media: QuicktimeProgram Director: Nancy Maizels, Ph.D.
Award Years: 2006
Summary: The University of Washington is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Its Molecular Medicine Training Program, funded by HHMI's Med into Grad Program, provides Ph.D. students with training that integrates fundamental principles of biology with human health and disease. The program incorporates three key elements: case-based courses, a clinical rotation in human genetics or a medical pathology course, and dual mentorship of Ph.D. research by a basic scientist and a clinically trained or clinically oriented research scientist.