The microorganisms in the human gut appear to play a pivotal role in determining whether a person is lean or obese, new research shows. The study, published online Thursday by the journal Science, is the strongest evidence yet that what's inside an individual's digestive tract influences the risk of obesity and its related health problems, such as Type 2 diabetes. The work helps explain the nation's 30-year run-up in excess weight — and it may supply a potential solution to the resulting epidemic, experts said. "Many factors contribute to obesity," said the study's senior author, Dr. Jeffrey I. Gordon, director of the Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology at Washington...
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