Researchers in the Lone Star state say they've bred a strain of lab mice that have half the body fat of normal animals and can eat up to 40 percent more than regular rodents without gaining an ounce. The animals lack the gene for an enzyme that governs the conversion of fat into energy. Blocking the same enzyme in humans, the researchers say, could lead to the development of a drug to promote weight loss and prevent obesity. The finding appears in this week's issue of Science . When an animal eats, it converts some of the nutrients into short-term energy and stashes other compounds away for a lean day.
Fat stores become the body's molecular pantry.
Both produce another molecule, malonyl-CoA, which, depending on its location in the cell, directs the accumulation or breakdown of fatty acids. Mice embryos missing ACC1 die after about a week in the womb, suggesting that fat storage is indispensable to life, the researchers say. But mice missing ACC2 have a much different fate. Yet, while their cells convert fat into energy at an intense clip, they seem otherwise fine. More than OK, in fact, from a dieter's perspective.