Abstract: Series 110, Lecture 5
The Harvey Lectures Series 110 (2014—2015)
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Lecture #5: Thursday, March 19, 2015 — Watch Video of Lecture
Genetic Disorders of Dietary Excess: Getting to the Heart of the Matter
Helen Hobbs, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine
Professor of Molecular Genetics
Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, Texas
Insufficient time has elapsed for our genomes to adapt to the caloric abundance and reduced physical activity accompanying industrialization. Diseases of dietary excess, rather than nutritional deficiency, are the major causes of death and disability in the Western world. Using human genetics, our laboratory has identified new genes and sequence variations conferring resistance (and susceptibility) to metabolic disorders of dietary excess. The two diseases that will be the focus of my talk will be coronary atherosclerosis and fatty liver disease.