Researchers used a modified CRISPR gene editing technique to target the fat cells of obese, diabetic mice. After 6 weeks, the animals had lost weight, and markers of type 2 diabetes had improved. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults worldwide were overweight, over 650 million of whom … Read more
Study may help lead to drugs aimed at diabetes and obesity Rutgers and other scientists have discovered how brown fat, also known as brown adipose tissue, may help protect against obesity and diabetes. Their study in the journal Nature adds to our knowledge about the role of brown fat in human health and could lead … Read more
When cells change to a more specialized type, we call this process cellular differentiation. Scientists have revealed that protein secretions by skin cells known as keratinocytes control the differentiation of subsurface skin fat cells. This discovery could potentially help to treat obesity. Associate Professor Takehiko Ueyama and Professor Naoaki Saito at the Biosignal Research Center … Read more
Changes in DNA packaging curbed our body’s ability to turn ‘bad’ fat into ‘good’ fat Blame junk food or a lack of exercise. But long before the modern obesity epidemic, evolution made us fat too. “We’re the fat primates,” said Devi Swain-Lenz, a postdoctoral associate in biology at Duke University. The fact that humans are … Read more
Scientists from the University of Nottingham have discovered that drinking a cup of coffee can stimulate ‘brown fat’, the body’s own fat-fighting defenses, which could be the key to tackling obesity and diabetes. The pioneering study, published today in the journal Scientific Reports, is one of the first to be carried out in humans to … Read more
In the largest study of its kind to date, Cambridge researchers have looked at why some people manage to stay thin while others gain weight easily. They have found that the genetic dice are loaded in favour of thin people and against those at the obese end of the spectrum. More than six in ten … Read more
Obesity is a disease where people accumulate more and more fat. When they reach a certain point, their fat stops working and they develop disease, such as type 2 diabetes. But not all fat is bad. The fat that accumulates in obesity is called white fat, but a second form of fat (brown fat) could … Read more
Our bodies contain two types of fat: white fat and brown fat. While white fat stores calories, brown fat burns energy and could help us lose weight. Now, scientists at the University of Cambridge have found a way of making the white fat ‘browner’ and increasing the efficiency of brown fat. While their study was … Read more
A team of researchers, led by Professor Jan-Wilhelm Kornfeld from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Elena Schmidt from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Cologne, Germany and Martin Bilban from the Medial University, Vienna, Austria, have made a groundbreaking discovery in obesity research. The team has discovered a … Read more
Bioengineers develop a simple tissue-grafting approach to increase brown fat mass in the body and study its effect on metabolism and weight Brown fat tissue in the body can burn enormous amounts of energy to generate heat, and studies in humans and animals have suggested that increasing the amount of healthy brown fat might help … Read more