Altered expression of specific imprinted genes is also known to exert notable effects on metabolic health: thus, higher expression of the maternally expressed imprinted genes CDKN1C and H19, and lower expression of the paternally expressed imprinted gene DLK1, each protects against diet-induced obesity in mice [19, 37, 56]. The gene discussed is DLK1; the disease is obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.