FLICKING a metabolic switch could help obese people burn off excess fat, say
researchers in Italy.
Saverio Cinti and his colleagues at the University of Ancona have managed to
transform normal fat cells in rats into a different type that burns energy to
produce heat, instead of storing it. They hope that similar drugs could be
developed to help people lose weight.
Body fat, or adipose tissue, is actually a complex organ, composed of two
different types of fat cell. White adipose tissue mainly stores fat. Brown
adipose tissue, however, keeps the body warm by releasing the energy stored in…
