In 1998, Poston et al. was one of the first to investigate an association between the long version of the DRD4 gene and the risk to develop dysfunctional eating patterns, observing that DRD4 L was more frequent in female and male subjects with higher risk for obesity, independently of the degree of body mass index (BMI). The gene discussed is DRD4; the disease is obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.