Obesity Research on the Web

The World Wide Web is an excellent resource for obtaining late-breaking scientific news, even before it appears in journals and other publications. Many universities, for example, maintain public information home pages that issue summaries of research findings that may be of interest to the public. Not only are the summaries "hot off the press," but they generally are written in language that is accessible to the average reader. New York's Rockefeller University maintains a Web site with regular research news updates. Check it out at http://www.rockefeller.edu/news/. Go to   http://runews.rockefeller.edu/index.php?page=engine&id=275 - top to read about some 1995 research on obesity. Also useful is the February 2004 issue of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity’s journal at http://www.obesityresearch.org/.

1. What is leptin? Where is it found? How was it discovered? What does the word mean?

2. What is ob? How is it related to leptin?

3. What effect do leptin treatments have on food intake and body weight?

4. What effect does dieting have on leptin levels?