2010 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2010. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.

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Why am I so skinny and all the rest of the people in my family are fit?
     Toni Pollin, M.S., Ph.D.: I do research on the genetic factors in complex diseases, particularly diabetes and cardiovascular disease. I also teach graduate and medical students and have a background in genetic counseling. Do you mean the rest of the people in your family are fat? Body weight is influenced by both genes and how much we eat and exercise. So if you and the rest of your family eat the same amount of food and get the same amount of exercise, you might have forms of some genes that are different from some other family members' and help you to keep from gaining weight. The tendency to gain weight also changes through the life span and varies between males and females.
East Haven High School in CT (10th grade student)

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