20 October 2020

New genetic links to diabetes and obesity discovered by eavesdropping on DNA’s long-distance communication

Research video

Watch the video that shows how new methods that unravel DNA's dynamic and 3D behaviour has helped CBMR scientists discover new genes linked to obesity and diabetes.

A still image from the video showing the long distance promoter-enhancer interaction.

New links between our genome and obesity and diabetes have been uncovered by CBMR's Barrès Group who developed methods to connect regions of the genome that interact with each other over long distances. This new method marks an important development for scientists who want to better understand the link between the genome of individuals and their health.

The study as led by Assistant Professor Kristine Williams and published this June in Nature Communications: Skeletal muscle enhancer interactions identify genes controlling whole-body metabolism

To help explain the power of the method, we teamed up with molecular animator Janet Iwasa and video producer Rasmus Degnbol, to go deep inside the cell and show DNA's dynamic and three-dimensional behavior.

Watch the video below!