Supressing the Fat Storage Mechanism

Zebrafish
Originally uploaded by odoyle81

I'm a firm believer that science isn't going to come up with a magical pill that will help the obese lose weight -- at least without horrible side affects. Heart valve damage, heart attack and anal leakage are all problems faced by dieters who have used the snake oil pills available over the last decade. However, the diet industry is big business and that means scientist haven't stopped looking for the obesity panacea.

Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University recently identified the genes responsible for packaging fat inside of our cells. In humans, packaging excessive amounts of fat inside of our bodies is what leads to obesity. The scientists then altered the DNA of zebrafish to suppress the packaging of fat. After being fed a high-fat diet and exhibiting normal feeding behavior, it was found that the zebrafish had very little packaged fat. Dr. David Silver, assistant professor of biochemistry at Einstein, believes that powerful drugs can be developed based on this research.

Such drugs could prove extremely valuable, not only for treating the main result of excess lipid droplet accumulation -- obesity -- but for alleviating the serious disorders that arise from obesity including type 2 diabetes and heart disease.