Gene Switch That Tells Cells To Burn Fat Triggered By ‘Exercise Pill’
Guess what? Scientists are actually making progress on a real fat burning pill. It works … on mice.
Salk Institute scientist Dr. Ronald M. Evans has created a drug that causes the PPAR-d gene to switch “on” so that it starts to burn fat even when mice are inactive. So, I guess this means that lazy, lay about mice can become fat burning machines, just like mice who exercise. This makes them resist weight gain even on a high fat diet.
The turning on the PPAR-d gene seems to do other good things. It enables mice to run “mice marathons” without intensive training and also reduces inflammation.
You can read more about Dr. Evan at his home page and more about the PPAR-d gene and the hormone here. Diary: Tips and my weight loss journey
Very interesting stuff. I think it’s cool, and at the same time it worries be about turning genes on and off. Hrm.
Cynthia Blue (5 comments.) - May 8th, 2007 at 4:27 pm