Fat cells that could one day help us fight the flab.

(From Bristol Evening Post)

TURNING fat cells into fat-burning furnaces could one day help scientists solve the problem of obesity, it has been claimed.

Researchers transformed fat cells in rats by injecting the animals with a gene for leptin, a protein linked to metabolism and appetite.

Instead of storing fat, the cells started burning it up, causing the rats to lose 26 per cent of their body weight in just 14 days.

When examined, the cells were found to be "crowded" with mitochondria - the rod-like power plants that pump out energy in cells.

Reporting the findings in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists, …