Mousta d can. The Moroccan-born scientist is building a career by explaining the biological forces that produce the stuff. In her research, Mousta d has shown that insulin may play a key role in fat production. Her work is of particular interest to people with type II diabetes.
Some people gain weight when they start taking insulin, which has been something of a puzzle.
Obesity increases the risk of developing type II diabetes and makes diabetes more difficult to control. If Mousta d can fully map out insulin's role, she may lay the groundwork for new treatments for obesity and thus type II diabetes. No one has ever studied fat like Mousta d. Where past research has used animals, she's using actual human fat cells. That's thanks to a technique Mousta d developed that enables the cells to remain alive in the laboratory for up to three weeks after they've been removed from a patient.