Bad Fat

Not all fat is equal. The lipid cells that sit around our organs (pictured) are much more dangerous than those that pad our body from just underneath the skin. What’s more, it now appears that the different fats are created unequal right from the start. Using genetic modification, scientists changed a specific group of mouse embryo cells in such a way that all their descendants light up green. When they checked full-grown mice, lots of green cells carrying lipid droplets (blue) showed up in the ‘bad’ fats, but none were found in the ‘good’ fat underneath the skin. This shows that the two fats have different developmental roots, and thereby solves a long-standing mystery in obesity research. If scientists can find a way to stop these ‘green’ cells making more of themselves, they might be able to stop the body laying down bad fat.

Written by Emma Bornebroek

• Image courtesy of You-Ying Chau and colleagues
• MRC Human Genetics Unit
• Copyright held by Nature Cell Biology
• Research published in Nature Cell Biology, March 2014