Unlike white fat, which functions primarily to store up fat, brown fat (also known as brown adipose tissue) burns fats to generate heat in a process known as thermogenesis. The research, led by scientists at the University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories at the Institute of Metabolic Science, discovered that the protein BMP8B acts on a specific metabolic system (which operates in the brain and the tissues) to regulate brown fat, making it a potential therapeutic target.
The scientists believe that activating brown fat could help to support current weight loss programmes, which individuals often struggle to maintain.
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Image: Brown fat -- Dr. Miguel Lopez, from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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