Saturday talks

Dr Giles Yeo

Are our genes making our jeans too tight?

Talk synopsis: While the obesity epidemic is a contemporary problem, undoubtedly due to changes in our lifestyle and in the types of food we eat, differences in our genetic make-up mean some of us are slightly more hungry all the time and so eat more than others. In contrast to the prevailing view, obese people are not bad and lazy; rather, they are fighting their biology.

Bio: Giles obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1998. He studies obesity and was in the initial vanguard that described a number of genes that when mutated, resulted in rare forms of severe obesity, thus uncovering key pathways in the brain that control food intake. His current research focuses on understanding how these pathways differ between lean and obese people, and the influence of genes in our feeding behaviour. He is a graduate tutor and fellow of Wolfson College. Giles also presents science documentaries for the BBC, including ‘Horizon’ and ‘Trust Me I’m a Doctor ‘.

Click to visit Giles’ webpage.