Plink! Cured!

I would say that for those who feel they can only be happy if they are thin, this would certainly seem to be the answer for them. There is always the potential that people could say "Well, there are treatments for this -- why don't you get them?" and then discriminate against those who can't afford such treatments or don't want them. In my personal opinion, discrimination is always wrong, no matter the reason for it. It seems to me that so many people want a magic cure for something they believe causes them to be at risk for illnesses, which may or may not be the case. I don't think we know enough about the human body yet to be able to answer that one way or the other, and like many things it may depend on lots of stuff. Either way, its still no reason to discriminate. However, if such a magic pill exists, do we have an ethical right to deny it to people who want it and think they need it? I don't believe so, but that is just my opinion.

i wonder if they're any closer to finding the gene that makes people into narrow-minded, self-important bigots who think we should all look the same. wouldn't that be cool? i love this blog. i'll drop by a visit now and again if you don't mind. keep on keepin' on. jim

Sadly, I don't think discrimination is genetic. It's most likely caused by society's tolerance of prejudice. It's also caused, in part, by ignorance. How many people take the time to learn about others who are not like them, instead of staring at them from across the room or making rude comments or something? Not very many, I'd wager. If more people took the time to learn about others, there would be a lot less hatred in the world.

big a fat I'd rather not take a pill to make people like me which when we come to the point that's what it is. There's all ready a slimimng pill diets and healthy eating maybe both us goverment and UK goverment (i'm from the uk) should put money into educating people insted of waisting it on something like another pill!! I'd rather be fat healthey and loved than pump my body full of chemicals just to be aproved by everyday people and everyday life BTW love the blog keep up the good work

Wasnít there something in a movie? Some thing about take this pill and you can stay in your safe sleep, take this one and you know the truth but it might mean you have a life of battle. Iím sure Iím paraphrasing way away from the film. If I could take a pill and be thin would I? No. Much of who I am is as a result of dealing with living in a body that the culture tells me is wrong, unhealthy, ugly. And I like who I am. If I lost weight I would still be fat. Are we going to find the gene that codes for short? Tall? Blonde? Is there a perfect flawless body? Who gets to decide what that looks like? I get to decide for my body. I'm fat.

If I could take a pill to be thin (assuming there were minimal health risks), I would do it. In a heartbeat. To paraphrase what someone said once about being poor: "Being fat is not shameful, but it isn't great either." Besides, being fat (esp at really high weights) *is* a negative strain on the body. Given the chance to live without stretch marks, an overworked heart, and arthritic knees, why not take it?

As with all new "miracle cures" (Fen-Phen, Redux), I'll wait about 5-10 years and let other people discover that taking these concoctions cause (heart valve damage, genetic damage in offspring, blindness, greasy stools)! Whatever--there are always undesirable, sometimes even deadly side effects. Yeah, would I like my body to work as efficiently as those who are thin? Sure, but I'm not willing to pay with my life or my good health!

What Karen said. I do not trust that kind of biological intervention. We are still not certain what reasonS there are for obesity...why would we cure something is not actually even an illness?

*shudder* I don't even want to think about what the potential ramifications of tinkering blindly with the genome are. We simply don't know enough about how genes work -- not only in terms of how they are expressed ontologically but about the interdependence of genes on one another as triggers and checks and balances and everything else that there are signs that genes actually *do* in our bodies over our lifespan -- to go mucking around thinking that we can just block one gene, or splice it out, and solve a problem. That goes for any genetically-determined problem. I'll believe that genome-derived therapies can be workably and safely developed for fatness when I see them develop a few for things like sickle cell anemia, Down's Syndrome, hemophilia, Huntington's Disease, lupus, and breast cancer. In the meantime, me and my fat gene will be getting on with life.

I would take that sweet pill in a heartbeat. I despise being overweight. Sadly, my severe weight problem is not genetic - so the pill wouldn't help me. I'm 140 lbs overweight because of an endocrine disorder (a benign brain tumor) and the cocktail of medications that I must take to survive after the removal of the tumor and a small section of the brain. Everytime some well-meaning soul wants to share a diet plan with me I am tempted to whip out my MRIs and show the damage to the pituitary and hypothalmus that caused my particular weight gain hell. My husband is incredibly supportive and even though I've gained 140 lbs he says/shows me that he loves me exactly as I am. I maybe larger than I ever dreamed I would be but I'm still a lucky woman.

Take a pill so I can be thin? No way. Being fat has been amazingly character building for me. And besides, it's who I am. Why would l want to do something to change what is essentially me?

The idea that we could eliminate every genetic variation is the most frightening thing I can imagine. I don't want to live in a world where everybody is the same size, just like I wouldn't want to live in a world where everybody is the same color...

A pill to get rid of the "fat" gene? A social disaster. I can see a whole pile of anorexics overdosing and dying as a result, for starters. Most women, overweight or not, would be tempted to take it to make themselves thin, as would many men. If such a thing comes out, it should be strictly controlled (prescription only in cases of extreme obesity where there is proof that the person's weight is threatening her life). Jenny.

Why are those in size acceptance against cures for medical problems. YES THEY SHOULD DO IT! Perhaps someone like me who has metabolic problems and weighs so much they are very ill could then be helped. This is the part of size acceptance I never could accept...this lie that fat always meant happy, excluding all those who suffer from obesity in its more severe forms!! I want to be able to walk and breathe. I would be dead if I hadnt gotten down from the 600s to the 400s. This is a different world. How could anyone ask SHOULD they do this? YES OF COURSE THEY SHOULD! Those who are fat and healthy and discount those who suffer severely from obesity and are disabled from it and other diseases related to it, do those like us a disservice when you speak against real and actual possible cures!

Helena can you write me? I have never been able to get a brain tumor outruled (pit or otherwise) and had severe significant weight gain in late 90s. (I am diagnosed with several endocrine disorders though we do have genetic obesity as well in my family)I have been unable to get MRI, because of breathing issues and size.

It sounds more like you want a pill to make one healthy, Budge. This pill would not do that. How could anyone ask SHOULD they do this? Easily. We don't know what causes obesity; we've thrown many theories up, and enforced many ideas, but none has "cured" obesity. I don't want to try to eliminate something that we don't fully understand, do you?

I don't think that targeting/eliminating the gene that predisposes people to be fat would have any effect on people with metabolic disorders like you describe Budge. From what I understand, this gene is just what makes people *big* not sick. Like, the horizontal equivalent of the 'tall' gene. I am not at all against gaining a greater understanding of the things that can go wrong in our genetics that can lead to life-threatening diseases. I would love to see a world where genetically inherited, life-threatening diseases could be prevented. That would eliminate a lot of real pain and suffering. But when we talk about wiping out the 'fat' gene, we're talking about wiping out a *characteristic*--we're talking about wiping out a whole facet of our diversity as a species. And I think it's too early in the genetics game to be creating treatments for *anything* yet, even the diseases that I think should be the focus of this research. We don't know enough yet about what can come from tampering with the genome to start marketing it as a valid treatment.

Why on earth would I want to take a pill to change my size? I view it the same way I would view someone trying to sell a pill that could change my height or skin colour. Who cares? Sadly, mostly everyone.