Applications of Systems Genetics and Biology for Obesity Using Pig Models

In many biomedical research areas, animals have been used as a model to increase the understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in human diseases. One of those areas is human obesity, where porcine models are increasingly used. The pig shows genetic and physiological features that are very similar to humans and have shown to be an excellent model for human obesity. Using pig populations, many genetic studies have been performed to unravel the genetic architecture of human obesity. Most of them are pinpointing toward single genes, but more and more studies focus on a systems genetics approach, a branch of systems biology. In this chapter, we will describe the state of the art of genetic studies on human obesity, using pig populations. We will describe the features of using the pig as a model for human obesity and briefly discuss the genetics of obesity, and we will focus on systems genetic research performed using pigs with their contribution to human obesity research.