Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years.

Yacold also partners with nature portfolio to advance gut microbiome science through the global grants for gut health, an investigator-led research program.

To learn more about Yachtolt, visit yawcult.co.

.jp.j. That's y-A-K-U-L-T.C-O.J-P. When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacult.

This is Scientific Americans 60 Second Science.

I'm Karen Hopkins. Got a minute?

I don't believe in all my years I've ever seen a fruit fly I would consider obese.

But thanks to the wonders of modern science, that's all about to change.

Because a team of researchers from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has produced the first flies that are genetically engineered to overeat.

If you're wondering why, it's not as silly as it might sound.

A big part of weight control has to do with making healthy dietary choices, and knowing when to step away from the snack cabinet.

But what controls those behaviors?

Well, we humans have a hormone called leptin that

tells us that we're full. After eating, leptin's released from our fat cells, and it travels to our

brains to signal that we've had enough. Indeed, people who don't produce leptin, or who lack

the molecular machinery to detect it, really pack on the pounds. In the new study, researchers discovered a hormone

that acts the same way in flies. And when they deleted the gene that encodes it, the hormonally

deficient insects just kept eating. And when presented with the fly equivalent of a high-fat

or high-sugar diet, they gained three times more weight than did their hormonally competent peers.

The findings appear in the journal Cell Metabolism. Interestingly, giving human leptin to these tubby bugs

eliminates their tendency to binge.

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