Markers / Gene
near MC4R
One position in this gene is readable from a home DNA test.
MC4R, appetite regulation
rs17782313 · chr18:57,851,097 · T/C · evidence: established
MC4R sits at the centre of the brain circuit that decides when you feel full. Rare severe mutations in it cause childhood obesity; this common variant nearby nudges appetite in the same direction, far more gently.
| If you carry | What it means |
|---|---|
| No copies | You have the lower-appetite version on both copies |
| One copy | One copy of the higher-appetite version |
| Two copies | Two copies of the higher-appetite version |
| Ancestry group | C (the effect version) | |
|---|---|---|
| African | 27.8% | |
| American | 13.4% | |
| East Asian | 18.7% | |
| European | 24.0% | |
| South Asian | 32.0% |
1000 Genomes Project phase 3, via Ensembl, retrieved 2026-09-23. These groupings are coarse and flatten a great deal of internal diversity, particularly within Africa. A variant being common somewhere tells you where a piece of your ancestry probably comes from, and nothing else.
Where this gene fits
If you have taken a home DNA test, these positions are already in your file.
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