When Collier moved the rats to his laboratory in Melbourne, they switched from their natural diet of cactus to rat chow, which was available in abundant amounts. Some overate and became fat and diabetic, while others ate reasonably and stayed lean. To figure out whether this differing behavior had a genetic basis, Collier and his colleagues killed the rats and took out their brains, then examined their genes. The scientist then looked on Internet gene banks for this genetic pattern in other animals. He found a somewhat similar gene in the earthworm, then he struck gold.
Humans have an identical gene sequence.
Using the human Beacon gene, Collier produced a protein and injected it into slim rats. In seven days, these rats had gained about five percent of their body weight. Collier' s hefty discovery is slated to be published in next month's issue of the journal Diabetes . All will be read but some may not be answered to due to limitations of time.