Chapter 1. Eating and Weight Gain: Genetic Engineering

Short Description

Events in French munitions factories during World War I set the stage for discovery of an effective obesity-reducing drug. Factory workers reacted to the explosive DNP, that they handled daily, with fevers and unexplained weight loss.

Long Description

Events in French munitions factories during World War I set the stage for discovery of an effective obesity-reducing drug. Factory workers reacted to the explosive DNP, that they handled daily, with fevers and unexplained weight loss. Careful study indicated that DNP speeds up metabolism so that food is not converted to fat, but is burned off as heat. In short, DNP was a potential diet drug that could produce significant weight loss.

However, DNP also proved dangerous because it increases the metabolism of every cell in the body. Thus, body temperature quickly rockets out of control. For an obesity treatment to be safe it must work only in selected cells.

Researcher, John Clapham, knew that the human body contains proteins similar to DNP. More importantly, they work only in selected cells. Clapham surmised that by manipulating these proteins it might be possible to burn off body fat without fatal meltdown. Genetically engineering a mouse having genes for these proteins might achieve this goal. When Clapham inspected his genetic creation, he was surprised to see that the mouse was much skinnier than its natural born sister. Equally surprising was the discovery that the skinny mouse ate fifty percent more than its plump sister. The genetically altered animal could overeat without putting on weight.

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