◎孫宇青
The Labrador retriever, known as one of the greediest breeds of dog, is more likely to overeat and become obese than other breeds partly because of its genes, scientists at Cambridge University say.
劍橋大學科學家表示，拉布拉多獵犬是最貪心的犬類之一，因此牠們比其他犬類更容易因為吃太多而變胖，其中部分原因與基因息息相關。
CELL METABOLISM
The gene plays a crucial role in controlling how the brain recognizes hunger and the feeling of being full after eating.
該基因在控制大腦感知飢餓，以及進食後感知飽足等方面扮演重要角色。
Researchers screened more than 300 Labradors kept as pets or assistance dogs for obesity genes in the study.
在這項研究中，研究人員選出300多隻拉布拉多犬，包括寵物和工作犬，研究牠們的肥胖基因。
The team found that a change in a gene known as POMC was strongly linked with weight, obesity and appetite in Labradors and Flat-Coated retrievers.
研究團隊發現，一種名為「前腦啡黑細胞促素皮促素」的基因變化，與拉布拉多犬和順毛尋獵犬的體重、肥胖和胃口等具有高度關聯性。
CELL METABOLISM
"What we have found is that some Labradors get fat because they have a deletion in a gene within their brain, and this particular gene plays a role in sensing how much fat they have in their body, so they keep eating to try to get fatter." a human geneticist from the University of Cambridge said.
劍橋大學一名人類遺傳學家表示：「我們發現，某些拉布拉多犬變胖，是因為腦中少了一種可以感知體內脂肪的基因，導致牠們不知道自己身上的脂肪有多少，只好一直吃，好讓自己變胖。」
In terms of humankind, there are some rare obese people who lack a very similar part of the POMC gene to the one that is missing in the dogs.
就人類而言，有少數肥胖者的「前腦啡黑細胞促素皮促素」基因，缺少的部分與拉布拉多犬缺少的部分非常類似。