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Overeating is a complex set of circumstances that range from psychological to simple ignorance about the foods we eat. But, what if when it’s all said and done, doctors could simply turn off your hunger like a light switch?

The answer could lie in a molecule known as MIC-1.

Australian scientists have figured out how to switch hunger on and off using MIC-1. The discovery could stop weight loss in terminally ill patients or produce weight loss in the morbidly obese. MIC-1 is produced by cancers and targets receptors in the brain that switch off appetite.

Sam Breit at St Vincent’s Centre for Immunology, who originally cloned the MIC-1 gene, believes the findings could have a significant impact on a range of appetite-related disorders.