An international team, including scientists from Leipzig University, has gained important new insights into the regulation of food intake in mammals. The study, recently published in the renowned scientific journal PNAS, shows that the relative availability of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids within the cell’s branched membrane system – the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) – plays a central role in regulating food intake. The researchers also identified a potential genetic precursor of the GLP-1R/GIPR receptor group. This could open up new avenues for the development of therapies for obesity and metabolic disorders.