It seems that no matter how much some people eat they never get fat. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Cell Metabolism a gene has been detected in a wide range of species which regulates fat formation.

This gene was originally discovered at Yale University by Winifred Doane, more than 50 years ago. The graduate student was observing fruit flies and recorded that some were appreciably fatter than the general population, while others were skinnier. Doane, now a Professor at Arizona State University, tracked the differences in body size to a single gene that she named “the adipose gene.”

More recently, scientists have discovered that fruit flies with the fully functioning adipose gene were very thin. Those with poorly functioning copies were fatter. Mice specifically bred to have efficient versions of the adipose gene were significantly slimmer than normal counterparts, with 66% less body fat than wild mice.

Theoretically, it is believed that it may be possible to engineer an obesity treatment that mimics what the adipose gene does. But do not wait around, as the treatment could still be a long way off.