Leptin and beyond: An odyssey to the central control of body weight

Abstract

The 2010 Lasker Award for basic medical research was shared by Douglas Coleman and Jeffery Friedman for their discovery of leptin, a breakthrough that revealed insight into the genetic basis of obesity. This mini-review aims to review landmark studies on the physiologic system of body weight control. The basic research on the leptin system has broad implications for the genetic control of body weight, thus contributing to solve the global obesity crisis.© 2011.