WeightControl.com Interview with:
Dr. Adam Auton, PhD, MSc
Lead author and Vice President of Human Genomics
23andMe Research Institute
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: GLP-1 medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide have transformed the treatment of obesity, but there’s enormous variation in how people respond. In clinical trials, some people lose more than 25% of their body weight while others lose almost nothing. Before our study, some of the non-genetic factors that influence response were understood – sex, age, whether someone has type 2 diabetes – but even after accounting for those, there was still a lot of unexplained variation. We suspected genetics might play a role.