People of different times and cultures have different aesthetic requirements. For example, in China, people in the ancient Tang Dynasty regarded fat as beauty, while people in many modern countries think that slim figure is more beautiful. This concept has been deeply rooted in people's hearts, so that most men and women in the whole society are pursuing slimming. More importantly, obesity can cause a variety of health problems, so now many people are concerned about the problem of obesity and want to lose weight through fitness and dieting.

What is the difference between white fat cells and brown fat cells? Why turn white fat cells into brown fat cells? How do researchers conduct experiments?

What are white fat cells? What are brown adipocytes?

First of all, let's understand the fat cells in the human body, which are the main undertakers of storing and burning fat in the human body. There are two kinds of fat cells, white fat cells and brown fat cells, which are very different in morphology and function. Studies have shown that the number of white fat cells in the human body accounts for the majority, and the number can reach about 30 billion. White fat cells gather together to form adipose tissue, and the amount of adipose tissue generally reaches its peak in adolescence.

The number of brown adipocytes is relatively small, they are mainly distributed in scapula, armpit, kidney and other parts, and can also gather together to form adipose tissue. But there are obvious differences between brown fat cells and white fat cells. The former is responsible for burning body fat, so as to achieve the purpose of regulating the proportion of body fat. The latter is usually the internal cause of obesity, because it will increase in volume without changing the number of cells, thus increasing the volume of fat.

What kind of research did Harvard researchers do?

First of all, the researchers used? Gene scissors? CRISPR located a specific gene UCP 1 in brown adipocytes. The expression of this gene can transform chemical energy into heat energy in animals. In addition, the researchers also found that there are more mitochondria in brown fat cells, which can also burn heat energy in animals. After determining the UCP 1 gene, the researchers injected white adipocytes and white adipocytes with UCP 1 gene into healthy mice respectively.

After 12 weeks of experiments, the researchers found that mice injected with white fat cells gained significant weight, and mice in good health showed signs of diabetes. However, the weight gain of mice injected with UCP 1 gene decreased significantly, which indicated that the body fat storage could be reduced by transforming white adipocytes.

What is the practical significance of this discovery?

Nowadays, the quality of life of people in most countries is getting higher and higher, which leads to more and more health problems caused by diet and work. Diabetes and obesity are two typical diseases. In this study, a new method of reducing fat is proposed, that is, transforming white fat cells into brown fat cells at the genetic level. If this technology is popularized and applied in the future, the probability of diabetes and obesity among residents should be reduced.