Newly-Discovered Technique Turns Ordinary White Fat Cells Into Calorie-Burning Beige Fat

A new study reveals that inhibiting a protein can transform energy-storing white fat into calorie-burning beige fat, potentially paving the way for effective weight-loss drugs and explaining past clinical trial failures.

Researchers at UC San Francisco (UCSF) have discovered a method to change ordinary white fat cells, which typically store calories, into beige fat cells that burn calories to regulate body temperature.

The discovery could open the door to developing a new class of weight-loss drugs and may explain why clinical trials of related therapies have not been successful. Until now, researchers believed creating beige fat might require starting from stem cells. The new study, recently published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, showed that ordinary white fat cells can be converted into beige fat simply by limiting the production of a protein.