Brown fats are a type of tissue found in mammals and is often abundant in ones that hibernate. It generates body heat, and hyperactive brown fats burn energy instead of storing it. Newborns are born with brown fat to help regulate body temperature, but with age it changes to white fat (the fat that no one wants). Because brown fat burns calories, it can actually allow people (if they had it) to lose weight without going to the gym or changing their eating habits. So what would you do if I told you there was potentially a gene that produces excess brown fat, while also suppressing cancer? It would seem to good to be true.
It has been found recently, that mice with an extra gene of Pten are cancer free. Pten is a tumor suppressor commonly lost in human cancer. When the mice received an extra gene of Pten, they ended up not only being cancer free; they were leaner and ate more than the controls. When the extra Pten gene was turned on, the brown fat cells were also in a sense "turned on." Studies of the isolated brown fat cells in these mice showed that Pten confirmed a boost in these cells. Pten also made it easier for brown fat to form. The brown fat caused the mice to burn more calories than usual, which led to them having less fat in their livers and and were more prone to insulin resistance. Because of this, not only were these mice leaner but they lived longer too. "This tumor suppressor [Pten] protects against metabolic damage associated with aging by turning on brown fat," said Manuel Serrano of the Spanish National Cancer Research Center.
These mice seem to have it all, right? They are more youthful, living longer lives, staying fit while eating as much as they want, all while remaining cancer free. It is said that a small compound inhibitor that mimics the effects of Pten also came with those varied benefits. It's a start, but maybe one day we'll be able to find a drug that does the same for us that Pten does for mice.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120306131252.htm
Taylor Pirog (2)
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My sister currently works on a similar case. She works at a cancer research center in Boston studying mice. Specifically, tumors suppressants and medicine to terminate tumors from the mice. If we can find a drug that prevents cancer, it would be to good to be true, especially if it solved the obesity problem in the world at the same time.
ReplyDeletePosted by: Jen Silva
This is so awesome! Except I agree that it seems way to good to be true, I'm wondering if there are any adverse side effects. However, it is so interesting that a single gene can make all of these wonderful changes. This one gene could fix some of the biggest problems facing humans; cancer, heart disease, obesity, the possibilities are endless. My question is: have any negative side effects been found? Is it possible for us to burn calories too quickly and not be able to keep up?
ReplyDeletePosted By Erica Bonnell
Nice article, being able to burn calories and lose wait would be very convenient for a lot of people. Although mice in the wild would probably want to save every calorie they could.
ReplyDeleteIt's strange that a gene that controls brown fat would give cancer resistance. Could the lowered cancer rates be due to the lack of fat in the mice instead of a direct cause of the gene?
Posted by Joseph Frimpong
This is a crazy article. It almost seems that this Pten gene is the secret of youth life. To be able to fend off cancer and stay healthy is incredible, but something as good as this must have some kind of negative effect. Will this gene ever be tested in humans one day and become a pill that any one can take?
ReplyDeletePosted by Khoa Chu
Wow this could be pretty dangerous stuff. It sounds almost too good to be true. A incredible breakthrough but this gene sounds like something that could potentially be abused should it be proven safe for human testing. What do you guys think?
ReplyDeleteposted by Dorian Pillari
Really interesting post! Imagine an America where we could have our cake and eat it too (literally)! Fast food sales would probably go through the roof as there is no longer a drawback to eating whatever you want. Anyway, could people have "too much" brown fat and thus become emaciated?
ReplyDeletePosted by Michael Thomas
The thing is, fast food still causes so many other health issues such as heart disease, high blood pressure that can lead to strokes, etc. If we were able to use a drug that mimics Pten we might not see cancer as much anymore, but rather a huge increase in these types of diseases.
DeleteTaylor Pirog (2)
that will be a great christmas or valentines day gift if we're able to find that drug. but very fascinating article. I hope that we are able to find that drug someday so people can be cancer free and healthy. But as mentioned in the previous posts, what negative side effects would there be? And is there a possibility that even though it works on mice, it might not work on humans?
ReplyDelete-Hermann Kam
Haha, nice Valentine's gift. "yo girl you look overweight/cancerous, got you something for that". But really, there's always the possibility that it won't work on humans, our physiology is very different. But even if it doesn't, maybe this research can pave the way for something that does work on us?
DeleteMike Selden (C)
Wow, what an amazing gene. If only humans possessed this gene or could come up with a drug that created brown fat while eliminating white fat, that would be life changing. The mice seem to benefit by living longer, are cancer free and remain thin. This is a miracle gene is you ask me. Maybe one day, down the line this could be used to prevent cancer.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of people who have decided that genetically modifying fruit is "against nature" makes me feel like there will be an absolutely enormous backlash against this if it ever becomes public. But really, this is exciting. It doesn't cure all kinds of cancer though, cancer comes in many shapes and forms and one gene isn't going to fix everything.
ReplyDeleteMike Selden (C)
This is a great article. One question I have is do the mice have to be born and bred with that gene or can it be injected? This could be potentially huge if they can find a from that works for humans. I wonder if there are things out there now that stimulate hyperactive brown fat cells and if there are what are they?
ReplyDeletePosted by Nicco Ciccolini