ReviewNature reviews. Endocrinology2014
The bigger picture of FTO: the first GWAS-identified obesity gene.
Review in Nature reviews. Endocrinology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 363 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
363 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 743 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multi-ancestry genetic architecture of heart failure subtypes.Nature communications · 2026Pooled it
- Polymorphisms in the FTO Gene and Their Association With Cancer Risk: A Comprehensive Review and Meta-Analysis.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2025Pooled it
- Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes among Asians: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Pooled it
- Association of rs9939609 in FTO with BMI among Polynesian peoples living in Aotearoa New Zealand and other Pacific nations.Journal of human genetics · 2023Pooled it
- Association between fat mass and obesity-related variant and osteoarthritis risk: Integrated meta-analysis with bioinformatics.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- Association between the FTO rs9939609 single nucleotide polymorphism and dietary adherence during a 2-year caloric restriction intervention: Exploratory analyses from CALERIE™ phase 2.Experimental gerontology · 2021Trial
- Beyond BMI: Genome-Wide Associations of Visceral Fat, Fat Mass, and Fat-Free Mass in Eastern Asian Populations.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2026Article
- Hypothalamus Participates in Peripheral Sympathetic Hyperactivity After Acute Brain Injury by RegulatingMedComm · 2026Article
- Genetic associations with alcohol drinking initiation and cessation in sub-Saharan African and African ancestry populations.Research square · 2026Article
- Interactions Between Genetic Risk and Macronutrient Intake on Obesity-Related Traits in Sri Lankan Adults.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Immune checkpoints and immunoregulation in metabolic diseases and cancers: pathological mechanisms and therapeutic potential.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Precision medicine in low-income settings and small island developing states.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2026Review
- Metabolic and Candidate Genetic Factors Associated with Overweight/Obesity in Patients of Kazakh Ethnicity with Psoriasis: A Cross-Sectional Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- A Rapid Genotyping Assay forCurrent developments in nutrition · 2026Article
- Article
- Genetic background of obesity: a case-control study.Hormones (Athens, Greece) · 2026Article
- A novel biclustering algorithm for mining m6A co-methylation patterns based on beta-binomial distribution and data screening strategy.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Multidimensional risk impact of obesity on breast cancer incidence, treatment, and prognosis.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2026Review
303 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that cluster in the first intron of fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene are associated obesity traits in genome-wide association studies. The minor allele increases BMI by 0.39 kg/m(2) (or 1,130 g in body weight) and risk of obesity by 1.20-fold. This association has been confirmed across age groups and populations of diverse ancestry; the largest effect is seen in young adulthood. The effect of FTO SNPs on obesity traits in populations of African and Asian ancestry is similar or somewhat smaller than in European ancestry populations. However, the BMI-increasing allele in FTO is substantially less prevalent in populations with non-European ancestry. FTO SNPs do not influence physical activity levels; yet, in physically active individuals, FTO's effect on obesity susceptibility is attenuated by approximately 30%. Evidence from epidemiological and functional studies suggests that FTO confers an increased risk of obesity by subtly changing food intake and preference. Moreover, emerging data suggest a role for FTO in nutrient sensing, regulation of mRNA translation and general growth. In this Review, we discuss the genetic epidemiology of FTO and discuss how its complex biology might link to the regulation of body weight.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.