Genetics Of Metabolism And Longevity

ScienceBlog reports on efforts to create genetic tweaks to prevent obesity. In this study, mice with ramped up metabolisms that burn fat at a higher rate not only stay thinner, but also live longer: "despite their svelte appearance, beta/beta mice actually eat more food and are no more active than their genetically normal littermates ... the white adipose tissue, which is normally reserved for fat storage, had actually been converted into fat burning cells in beta/beta mice." You may recall that scientists recently overturned the common wisdom on metabolism and longevity - mice with more active metabolisms have been shown to live longer, possibly due to a lower rate of free radical creation.

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