From the skin cells of humans and mice, scientists have successfully made brown fat, the kind that burns white fat by producing heat and is possessed in the greatest quantities by babies. The study, published in Nature, could potentially lead to a way to help overweight and obese people slim down. Brown fat was once thought to be found only in children, but earlier this year researchers confirmed that adults also have a small amount of brown adipose tissue. In 2007, researchers discovered that a protein called PRDM16 made immature muscle cells turn into brown fat. In the new Nature study, the same team of scientists found that PRDM16,
in combination with a second protein produced in muscle cells, is the master switch for brown fat cells and will also convert skin cells into brown fat, even though this is not the process nature intended. [Scientists] used this master switch ...
