Using mouse models to dissect the genetics of obesity

Mice have proved to be powerful models for understanding obesity in humans and farm animals. Single-gene mutants and genetically modified mice have been used successfully to discover genes and pathways that can regulate body weight. For polygenic obesity, the most common pattern of inheritance, many quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been mapped in crosses between selected and inbred mouse lines. Most QTL effects are additive, and diet, age and gender modify the genetic effects. Congenic, recombinant inbred, advanced intercross, and chromosome substitution strains are needed to map QTLs finely, to identify the genes underlying the traits, and to examine interactions between them.