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Obesity is often characterised as nothing more than greed and lack of willpower. ̽»¨Ö±²¥truth is far more complex.

A study carried out in mice may help explain why dieting can be an inefficient way to lose weight: key brain cells act as a trigger to prevent us burning calories when food is scarce.

People who carry variants in a particular gene have an increased preference for high fat food, but a decreased preference for sugary foods, according to a new study led by the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge. 

Financial traders are better at reading their ‘gut feelings’ than the general population – and the better they are at this ability, the more successful they are as traders, according to new research led by the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge.

We are more susceptible to infection at certain times of the day as our body clock affects the ability of viruses to replicate and spread between cells, suggests new research from the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge. ̽»¨Ö±²¥findings, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may help explain why shift workers, whose body clocks are routinely disrupted, are more prone to health problems, including infections and chronic disease.

From middle-age, the brains of obese individuals display differences in white matter similar to those in lean individuals ten years their senior, according to new research led by the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge. White matter is the tissue that connects areas of the brain and allows for information to be communicated between regions.

̽»¨Ö±²¥process by which a mother’s diet during pregnancy can permanently affect her offspring’s attributes, such as weight, could be strongly influenced by genetic variation in an unexpected part of the genome, according to research published today. ̽»¨Ö±²¥discovery could shed light on why many human genetic studies have previously not been able to fully explain how certain diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity, are inherited.

A chemical found in our breath could provide a flag to warn of dangerously-low blood sugar levels in patients with type 1 diabetes, according to new research from the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge. ̽»¨Ö±²¥finding, published in the journal Diabetes Care, could explain why some dogs can be trained to spot the warning signs in patients.

A genetic variation associated with obesity and appetite in Labrador retrievers – the UK and US’s favourite dog breed – has been identified by scientists at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge. ̽»¨Ö±²¥finding may explain why Labrador retrievers are more likely to become obese than dogs of other breeds.

Overweight people make unhealthier food choices than lean people when presented with real food, even though both make similar selections when presented with hypothetical choices, according to research led by the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge and published today in the journal eNeuro.