Scientists Studying the Lazy Gene 

      People have said things like this for as long as there have been people to say it.  They say things like, "He's a lazy, no-account do-nothing, just like his father.", or "That whole family is lazy."  Now according to recent genetic studies, statements like that just might be true.  

      Scientists in the Genetics Department at the University of Missouri published the findings of their recent study on laziness on April 3 this year.  They have identified 36 different genes that could play a role in determining activity level, and the willingness to be active.  
      An ironic twist to this study is that it was a result of an obesity study.  Researchers wanted to know if obesity was the result of laziness or if it was genetic.  The answer now may be yes, and yes, and both might be genetic.  
      Michael Roberts, one of the key researchers involved in this study said that, "this could be an important step in identifying the causes of obesity."  Obesity has been on the rise exponentially over the past few generations.  Obesity itself in turn fuels heart disease and diabetes.  Fellow researcher Frank Booth added, "It would be very use­ful to know if a per­son is ge­net­ic­ally pre­dis­posed to hav­ing a lack of mo­tiva­t­ion to ex­er­cise, be­cause that could po­ten­tially make them more likely to grow obese." 

      Roberts and Booth compared highly active individuals with those who are extremely inactive.   They compared  body composition, and mitochondria levels in the muscle cells of the individuals tested.  In this they saw some, but very little difference between the two extremes.  It was the genetic differences that stuck out to them.  36 different genes were identified.  They plan next to study each gene separately to measure its effect on motivation.