The team of researchersfrom the Ljubljana Institute of Chemistry again drew international attention for publishing a study that answers part of the question of what keeps some people slim. The study, which was published in Nature, a flagship science journal, found a gene and an eponymous protein that help eliminate toxins from fat cells and reduce the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. The study was led by Simon Horvat, who works at the Ljubljana Institute of Chemistry, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh.

Scientists have already found the ‘fat gene’ in the mid-90s. Horvat’s team took a different approach: they tried to discover why some people stay lean even when they eat too much food. Horvat said that it is quite difficult to find genes that have a relatively minor impact. “We’ve been looking for a needle in a haystack,” said Horvat.

The research was carried out on mice that were studied over a period of 60 generation. These mice had been bred to be either overweight or lean. The researchers discovered that a protein called thiosulfate sulfurtransferase (TST) is more active in the fat cells of lean mice. These lean mice were more immune to developing diabetes or obesity even if they were fed energy-rich diets. The researchers then learned that human fat cells reacted in a similar way if their TST levels were raised.