Is Obesity Caused by a Virus?

The evidence is now mounting that a virus, identified as Adenovirus-36, is responsible for obesity. The evidence is seen when antibodies are picked up in 30% of obese people compared with normal people who had a 5% incidence of the antibody. The virus has been found in flocks of chicken in India that made the chickens grow fat. When the virus was injected in mice and monkeys, they gained weight. A study was performed on women with breast cancer, and it found that 81% of obese women with breast cancer had the antibodies to the virus. We have long believed that obese women have a higher incidence of breast cancer.  When the virus was exposed to breast cancer cells in a dish, they multiplied twice as fast as normal cells. Now, with that said, there does not seem to be any funding to find out if there is a connection, but the connection to cancer is not being overlooked.

Taken from New Scientist, 28 July 2018, page 4.