Could gene therapy be the solution to obesity and diabetes?

The FABP4 gene is very active in adipose tissue and is known to be a major contributor to obesity and related diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Researchers at Hanyang University in Seoul have put point a way to silence the gene using a type of gene editing technology called CRISPR interference.

When researchers inhibited FABP4 in white adipose tissue, commonly known as unhealthy white fat, they observed a reduction in lipid storage.

They then tried the product in mice that followed a high fat diet, injecting them twice a week with the CRISPR interference system. Mice lost 20% of their body weight and exhibited a reduction in inflammation and insulin resistance, the team reported in Genome Research.

RELATED: CRISPR controls obesity in mice by amplifying rather than modifying genes

Researchers continue to research weight loss strategies that may be more effective than the current list of FDA-approved drugs. These products – Eisai's Belviq, Nalpropion's Contrave, and Vivus's Qsymia – showed only a reduction in body weight and therefore struggled to gain ground.

Last year, Eisai showed that Belviq did not increase the incidence of heart attacks and strokes in patients, making it the only weight loss drug that could be proud of cardiac safety. But that did not make much difference in boosting sales.

University groups are studying the potential of gene therapy in the fight against obesity. Last December, a group led by Flinders University in southern Australia removed the mouse gene RCAN1, which accelerated the conversion of white fat to brown fat burning calories. When the mice were fed a high-fat diet, they remained slim.

A team from the University of California at San Francisco uses CRISPR to increase the volume of genes that help maintain a healthy weight. They showed last year that, when they increased the activity of the genes SIM1 and MC4R – genes that regulate the feeling of satiety – in mice, animals exhibited a better controlled eating behavior than their untreated counterparts. They ended up weighing 40% less than control mice.

The Hanyang University team is planning further studies to determine the best way to translate their gene therapy to people with obesity. They believe that a similar "precision gene editing technology" could be used to treat other diseases, he added, in a statement.