Obesity is primarily a matter of diet and physical activity, there is no question about that. But there are also genetic factors that make certain people more likely to become fat. Scientists have already identified more than 110 genes that play a role in this. However, only two to three percent of the weight differences between individuals can be explained with these fattening genes. Obviously, important building blocks of knowledge are still missing. One such building block could be antagonist genes - those that tend to keep people slim. Now researchers are reporting for the first time on the discovery of such a "slimming gene". Now they want to find out whether these genes can be activated more in overweight people - or whether the Dick genes can be downregulated. Effective drugs that could do this are already on the market.