Credit: Jen Beshel, Zhong Lab, CSHL
We still have lots to learn about causes and prevention of human obesity. For this reason, genetic researchers have created the first genetically induced model of obesity in the fruit fly. The plus-sized model, right, gains weight when its hormone regulating "fullness" is absent or fails to signal properly. These overweight flies, like genetically predisposed people, gain much more weight than those with no genetic predisposition when their diet is high in fattening foods.