Viruses can make you fat

"A virus like the one that causes the common cold may explain why some people get fat no matter how much they diet.

Nikhil Dhurandhar a researcher at Wayne State University in Detroit, injected lab animals with the virus AD-36, then fed them and control groups the same amount of food. The infected mice and chickens turned more of their food into body fat.

In studies with humans, AD-36 turned up in 30 percent of obese people, but in only 5 percent of this people, says Dhurandhar.

If followup studies confirm initial findings, it might be possible to vaccinate people against the ravages of potato chips."