Scientists discover way to easily burn calories using the body's own fat cells

Scientists may have cracked the code to maintaining body fat . Brian Feldman and Liang Li, scientists from the University of California, San Francisco, have uncovered through multiple experiments that switching a certain gene may lead to regulating fat.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 42 percent of adults in the U.S. are obese. Weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and more have soared in popularity in recent months, with a recent survey finding three-quarters of Americans have at least heard of these drugs.

Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy work by decreasing appetite and slowing down emptying of the stomach, so people feel fuller for longer and eat less, according to UCHealth. The recent study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, looks at how medication can help to burn fat cells.

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Using human cell cultures and mice, the researchers found that depriving mice of the transcription factor Klf15 gene allowed white adipose tissue (WAT) to transform into a better thermoregulating form called brown adipose tissue (BAT).

ScienceAlert reported there are two different kinds of fat tissue: white fat and brown fat. White fat is locked beneath our skin and around our internal organs to act as a shock absorber and insulator.

White fat is normally what people talk about when mentioning fat cells in our bodies.

While white fat is long-term, brown fat is meant to be used at a moment’s notice, meaning it’s easier to burn off. Adult humans have less brown fat, while babies and hibernating animals have significant amounts.

Evolutionarily, the difference between white fat and brown fat has served a purpose, allowing our species to stay warm. However nowadays, with high fat foods and people being less active, many have too many white fat cells built up, which is bad for overall health.

Because white fat is harder to lose, Feldman and Li wanted to look at ways to make that process easier, according to ScienceAlert. Klf15 is higher in white fat than in brown fat, so they wondered what would happen if they limited that protein.

The researchers administered a dose of isoproterenol, a medicine used to treat bradycardia, into human white fat cultures and mice. They found that the drug helped activate brown fat and lower levels of Klf15.

The breakthrough has been with mice, so the next step is finding a way to generate a similar reaction in humans.