Several research groups have hunted for gene mutations that confer an increased risk of obesity in the hopes of finding new drug targets to curb the world’s expanding waistline. But scientists at Regeneron decided to take the opposite approach: They looked for genetic variants that keep people from gaining excessive amounts of weight—and they landed on one gene the company is now hoping to target with drugs.

A team at Regeneron Genetics Center has discovered mutations in the gene GPR75 that protect against obesity, they reported in Science. Now, drug developers at Regeneron are using the company’s VelocImmune technology, which generates antibodies from humanized mice, to find drugs that can mimic the protective properties of the GPR75 variants.

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